Shamaya Lynn was on a Zoom call with her coworkers on August 11 when suddenly a gun went off. Those also on the call reportedly heard a noise and saw Lynn fall backward, and they called police to do a check to see what happened. Those moments must have been terrifying to witness, especially when nobody knew what was going on.
Lynn's 2-year-old toddler had reportedly found a loose and loaded gun in the home. That gun was haphazardly stored in a Paw Patrol backpack, likely making it even more enticing to the child. When authorities reached Lynn, they found 22-year-old Veondre Avery trying to perform CPR.
Avery was Lynn's partner and the father of the toddler. Now he's facing charges for his part in this preventable death.
The incident happened at the couple's home in Altamonte Springs, Florida. In addition to the toddler, another child was home at the time. Neither child suffered any physical injuries from the event. Avery was eventually charged for the crime.
According to Today, the prosecutor's office released a statement that said that "forensic evidence clearly established that the child possessed and independently fired the weapon." Only one shot was fired, and it happened to hit Lynn in the head. Even though Avery didn't handle the gun, he's still being charged.
Avery was charged with manslaughter and failure to securely store a firearm. Had the gun been properly stored, his toddler wouldn't have had access to it. This one move would have saved a life. Everything Avery did after the fact was honorable, but by then, it was too late.
He arrived home shortly after the accident and immediately called 911 to try to save her life. "I literally just got home," he said on the call, per the New York Post. "And I come in the room and my girlfriend, she was working on the computer, she's just laid back. There's blood everywhere!"
His tone continued to be panicked. Obviously, this was a huge and upsetting shock to him. "Come on! Come on! Come on! Come on now, hurry, please hurry! Please! I don't know what happened, I just went in the house," he said. "I just came through the door!"
It's obvious that Avery and Lynn had a loving relationship prior to all of this. But now, one mistake has changed everything. The Orlando Sentinel mentioned that Lynn's coworkers were just as stunned to see it happen. While some of them said they did see a toddler in the back of the video, they didn't see the gun.
The first thing that Avery noticed after calling 911 was that Lynn wasn't breathing and had no pulse. As he tried to do chest compressions, his voice was breaking up. That's when authorities arrived and took over. Sadly, they declared her dead at the scene.
In Lynn's obituary, it was noted that she worked with a shoe company and loved the fact that her job was remote. As her family stated, it was "perfect for her because it allowed her to work from home and be home with her children every day." The obituary also showcased what Lynn was like.
"She was an excellent student and wouldn’t accept a grade lower than a C," it read. "She was an A-B student, and her education was very important to her." It also illustrated why she took on the career she did. "Soon after graduation, Shamaya became pregnant with her first son, Veondre Jr. She knew she had to provide for her son, so she set out goals and achieved them one by one," it said.
"She started working for Checkers Restaurant," it continued. "Later, when she gave birth to her second child, Royale, she gained employment with the New Balance Shoe Company." The obituary also mentions how family-focused Lynn was all around. "She meant so much to so many people," it added. "She was a kind, loving and considerate."
It's a shame that she won't get the chance to see her kids grow up, and those kids have lost their mother, all due to one fatal mistake.
