American woman of Tennessee charged with murder after fatally shooting 4-year-old girl

Breanna Runions, 25, was charged with murder and aggravated child abuse after shooting dead four-year-old Evangaline Gunter on Sunday

By Edward Era Barbacena 

Another innocent child in the land of the free dies in the hands of a white American adult. 

A Tennessee white woman has been charged with murder after fatally shooting a four-year-old girl, putting a gun to her chest and pulling the trigger in what she initially claimed was 'firearm safety training'.

Breanna Runions, 25, was arrested on Sunday after four-year-old Evangaline Gunter was shot dead.

After the shooting in Rockwood, Tennessee, Runions and her girlfriend put the child in a car and drove to seek medical help, calling 911 as they drove. 

They met EMTs in a Walmart parking lot, WBIR reported, and the child was taken to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival.

Runions told police that she had ensured the gun was unloaded, and pointed it at her chest as a firearm lesson. But her girlfriend contradicted her, WBIR said.

The girlfriend said that Evangaline and a second seven-year-old child were being punished by Runions after they failed to wake the two adults up. 

The children were also in trouble for eating food that belonged to Runions' girlfriend.

Runions is believed to have been put in charge of Evangaline by the courts: her relationship with the child, and the seven-year-old, is not known. 

Runions' girlfriend said that Runions hit both children with a sandal and ordered the pair to stand in separate corners of the adults' bedroom.

The girlfriend said Runions then took out a gun and removed the magazine, then called Evangaline over and shot her in the chest. 

Officials said that the girlfriend and the seven-year-old were in the room during the shooting but had their backs to the scene and did not witness the trigger being pulled: the bullet hit a glass bottle, and shards struck the other child.