On a Sunday in New Orleans, 15-year-old Kennedi Belton was at a sleepover with friends, a weekend ritual of laughter and camaraderie that tragically turned into a scene of loss. It was January 29, 2023, when the promising life of the Warren Easton Charter High School freshman was cut short by a single, accidental gunshot.
In an adjoining room of the house on Curran Boulevard, 19-year-old Andre Skinner was handling a firearm.
He later told police he was 'playing with the gun' to familiarize himself with it. Skinner admitted to removing the magazine but tragically failed to check if a round remained in the chamber. The gun discharged, sending a bullet through the wall and into the room where Kennedi was resting. The shot fatally wounded Kennedi and caused superficial injuries to two other individuals in the room with her.
In the wake of the devastating incident, Andre Skinner was arrested. He was subsequently charged with one count of negligent homicide and two counts of negligent injury. The firearm involved was identified as a 'ghost gun,' a weapon without a serial number.
Skinner later pleaded guilty to the charges. In a court decision that sparked outrage from Kennedi's grieving family, he was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay restitution. As part of his sentence, he is also required to speak at a high school once a year to share his story and warn others about the dangers of mishandling firearms. The light sentence, without any jail time, was a profound disappointment to a family left to navigate a world without their vibrant and beloved Kennedi.
