An eight-year-old girl has died after an illegal fireworks display went awry and shot toward and struck her.
Jasmine Nguyen was standing near a family friend who lit the illegal firecrackers on the Fourth of July in Buena Park, California, police said.
‘A large illegal fireworks display, which was placed in the street by the homeowner, failed and began misfiring toward the residence where the child was,’ stated the Buena Park Police Department.
‘This caused other illegal fireworks to ignite, which were near the child and others.’
Officers ‘observed family members frantically carrying a child into a residence’ and quickly assisted and found that she was injured from the fireworks, according to the department.
Jasmine was rushed late Friday to UCI Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
Other people around Jasmine were not seriously hurt.
Fire and bomb squad investigators determined that many of the fireworks used were illegal, according to the police department.
Earl Decastro, 46, was arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, police Lieutenant Jon-Michael Shaddow told the Orange County Register. He was out on a $25,000 bail as of Sunday.
Charges against Decastro are pending a review by the county district attorney’s office.
On Sunday, a man who answered the door at Decastro’s home on Cornflower Circle on Sunday afternoon told the newspaper that he would not speak and is ‘grieving right now’ and ‘it’s a really hard time for him’.
A makeshift memorial for Jasmine, who was from nearby Anaheim, with a white cross, heart-shaped balloon, candles and flowers was set up at a cul-de-sac where the tragedy happened.
There were multiple shootings across the US on the Independence Day holiday weekend. In Indianapolis, at least two people were shot dead and five injured on Friday. Mass shootings with four or more people killed or injured broke out in Chicago, Philadelphia and Brockton, Massachusetts.
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