DETROIT, MI (WXYZ) — In one month, at least four children have been accidentally shot in the city of Detroit. Of the four kids, three have died.
That includes then 11-year-old Saniyah Pugh.
“Saniyah was my baby, my best friend, everything," Saniyah's mother DaeJanay Pugh said.
Saniyah was killed just 20 days before her 12th birthday. Police say a stray bullet went through her grandmother's home and struck her in the back.
RELATED: Family seeks justice in killing of girl, 11, hit by stray bullet
Detroit police charged two people with her killing—one minor and one adult.
According to police, the two charged were messing around with a gun before it went off, striking and killing Saniyah.
Since her death, at least three other children have been accidentally shot by another minor in the city of Detroit. That includes a 14-year-old girl who was killed by another teen at an apartment party near the Detroit Riverfront and a 12-year-old boy who died while doing a social media stunt.
RELATED: Teen girl killed when gun accidentally goes off inside apartment near Downtown Detroit
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Pugh thinks these deaths are a result of irresponsible parents.
“Get these parents, because it’s no way that these kids is getting to a gun, it’s no way,” Pugh said.
But according to Attorney Amir Makled, putting the blame on parents in Michigan is not that easy.
“In your career, how often have you seen a parent charged criminally for their child gaining access to their gun," 7 Action News reporter Kiara Hay asks attorney Makled.
"Never," he responds. "I have never seen that in my career.”
Makled says right now there are no laws in Michigan that hold parents accountable for not properly storing their guns.
He says at most, parents will be charged with child endangerment or child abuse and CPS will get involved. But, he is hopeful that things will change.
“More recently county prosecutors have been attempting to bring the parents and hold them accountable for the negligence in how they store their firearms,” Makled said.
We are seeing this with the case of Jennifer and James Crumbley. They are currently on trial because their son killed multiple people at Oxford High School.
RELATED:James and Jennifer Crumbley plead not guilty to charges in Oxford case, $500K bond issued for each
Last year, lawmakers introduced gun access safety laws that will force gun owners with minors in the home to properly store their guns with safety locks or risk facing charges.
Pugh says she just wants change so that no one else has to endure the pain she is living with every day.
“Parents, y’all got to do better. Detroit—we got to do better. It’s too much,” she said.
