Canton suspect in shooting that killed 13-year-old sister charged, gets $500K personal bond
Suspect in deadly Canton shooting that killed 13-year-old sister due in court
The 21-year-old older brother of the victim is due in court for the fatal Canton apartment shooting is expected to be arraigned today.
FOX 2 - The brother of the 13-year-old girl that police say he shot and killed Tuesday , is expected in court Friday morning.
Jay-Veon McKinney, 23, was charged with shooting and killing his 13-year-old sister, Aymira Thomas.
According to the prosecutor's office, McKinney was playing with two guns an hour before the shooting and was unsafely handling one when it went off while he was near his younger sister.
The gun fired and a bullet hit Thomas, killing the young girl.
McKinney is charged with involuntary manslaughter, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and other felony firearm charges.
"The alleged actions of this defendant were dangerous and criminal. Overwhelmingly, most people do not want their loved ones to lose their lives. Their actions can make that a reality. We will keep pushing this message because this child’s death was completely preventable," said Prosecutor Kym Worthy.
McKinney arrived in court via Zoom just before noon. He sat in an orange jumpsuit as the judge entered the courtroom.
A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf as he was reminded of his rights.
As to bond, the prosecution described McKinney as ‘transient’ and that he had stayed at other homes over the past year. However, his family is all in the same area and he remained at the scene after she shot.
He left bond to the judge's discretion.
"He did knowingly engage in very dangerous conduct," the prosecutor said. "I have no reason to believe that he is a specific danger to his family."
McKinney's defense attorney said the 23-year-old has strong support form his family and that, while they know it was a tragedy, she described it as purely accidental and asked for him to be released on a GPS tether with home confinement.
The judge asked the prosecution about the request and there were no specific objections. The prosecution said house arrest is enough.
The two people who lease the townhome were sworn in and said they didn't have any guns in the home. They did say they had a collection of swords and knives, which the judge ordered to be turned over to police.
McKinney was ordered released on a $500,000 personal bond with a GPS tether. This means he will be able to be released without having to pay a bond. However, if he violates any terms of his bond, he'll immediately be arrested and held on a $5 million bond.
He was ordered to just go to the townhome and then back to court. He's not allowed to attend Thomas' services at the funeral home or have anyone in the home except for him and the two people who are on the lease.
The conditions will all be revisited during the probable cause on Aug. 14 with a preliminary hearing set for Aug. 22.
The backstory:
The shooting took place at Ridgeline Apartments near Joy Road and I-275 in Canton on Tuesday afternoon.
Aymira's sister spoke to FOX 2 about what she was like.
"She was amazing," said Christiana D. "She had like, great confidence. Aymira was just like a goofball.
"This all was unexpected. She was just at my house last night, We literally was watching movies."
The Source: Information for this story came from Canton police, the family of Aymira Thomas and a police source.
Canton Ridgeline Apartments police scene Tuesday. Inset: Teen victim Aymira Thomas.