Uncle Kills Girl With Accidental Gunshot

Three-year-old Jamie Vongvilay eagerly anticipated getting some candy when her adoring uncle came home late Saturday night.

But instead of bearing chocolates, as he often did, 19-year-old Long Luangrath had a handgun - purchased at a Reno gun show that day, he told relatives.

As Jamie ran to greet him, witnesses said the gun discharged, with the bullet fatally hitting the girl in the chest.

A distraught Luangrath fled the North Highlands home, an older brother said, before Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies arrived at about 10 p.m. Investigators said the shooting appears to be accidental, but Luangrath, who his brother said is a parolee, still faces a felony charge of illegal possession of a firearm.

Family members and friends are afraid for the uncle, even as they mourn the little girl’s death. Because of his feelings of guilt, he might harm himself, they said.