Karma Wezowicz, 7, female, was shot inside an apartment on South Cypress Street in Beebe, Arkansas, the evening of February 27, 2017. First responders found her in her father’s arms with a single gunshot wound to the head; she was airlifted to Arkansas Children’s Hospital and placed on a ventilator. Doctors pronounced her brain dead on March 1, and she died on March 4, 2017.
Investigators learned that 26-year-old Jeremiah Owens had been visiting a friend at the apartment and was handling the friend’s new handgun when it discharged in his lap. The bullet passed through the loveseat next to him and struck Karma near her right eye. Owens told police he did not know the firearm was loaded. He was initially arrested on battery charges, which were later upgraded to manslaughter after the child’s death.
Court records and local reporting show that Owens pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a Class C felony, on July 7, 2017. A White County Circuit Court judge sentenced him to five years in the Arkansas Department of Correction in August 2017. The Beebe Police Department publicly noted the guilty plea and summarized the case, confirming the timeline from the shooting to the child’s death and the resolution in court.
Listings and memorial pages record her loss as beginning with the February 27 shooting and ending with her death in early March, reflecting the brief span between injury and passing. Obituary and memorial notices identify her by name and community, aligning with the law-enforcement and news accounts.
