What We Know About the Brazil Shooting That Killed a 3-Year-Old

A 5-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro fatally shot her 3-year-old sister, Olivia Melo Moreira, after their father left his loaded pistol on the kitchen counter before going back to bed, according to the New York Post, which cited reporting from The Sun and Brazilian outlet O Globo.

The father, a licensed gun owner who has not been publicly identified, was interviewed by police and is expected to face charges of involuntary manslaughter and failure to exercise proper caution with a firearm, the Post reported, citing The Sun. He had not been arrested as of the Post's report Monday evening.

What happened inside the Rio de Janeiro home?

The family had been out late at a street party that ran until 6 a.m. Sunday, according to the Post's account. When they returned home, the mother noticed the garage gate was open and told her husband. He took his pistol downstairs to check for intruders, found none, and went back upstairs to sleep — but left the loaded weapon, still in its holster, on the kitchen counter, the Post reported.

A loud bang later woke the parents. They went downstairs and found Moreira on the floor, according to O Globo's reporting as relayed by the Post.

Key figures from the case, as reported:

• 5: age of the surviving sister who fired the gun
• 3: age of Olivia Melo Moreira, who died
• 6 a.m.: the hour the family returned from the street party, per the Post

How did the family discover the shooting?

The father told police that his older daughter ran toward him and her wife repeatedly saying "Sorry, Daddy" after the shot was fired, according to the Post's account of the father's statement to investigators. Moreira was rushed to Rocha Faria Municipal Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead, the Post reported, citing O Globo.

No other adults have been named in connection with the shooting, and the Post's report does not identify which parent first reached the kitchen.

What charges could the father face?

Brazilian police had not filed formal charges as of the Post's report, but the father is expected to be charged with involuntary manslaughter and failure to exercise proper caution with a firearm, according to The Sun's reporting cited by the Post. Involuntary manslaughter, in this context, refers to a death caused by criminal negligence rather than intent — the legal theory investigators are weighing against leaving a loaded weapon accessible to young children.

The father was interviewed by police but had not been arrested at the time of the Post's publication Monday. The Post's report does not specify a timeline for when charges might be formally filed or when a prosecutor might announce a decision.

What has the father's attorney said?

The family's attorney declined to discuss the specifics of the shooting when reporters sought comment, according to the Post.

"At this very delicate and tragic moment, the family has no interest whatsoever in making a statement," the attorney told reporters, as quoted by the Post.

No further statement from the family, the surviving daughter, or extended relatives has been reported.

What led up to the shooting?

The sequence described in the Post's reporting traces back to the family's return from an all-night street party. The mother's alert about the open garage gate prompted the father's decision to retrieve his pistol and check the property. Finding no sign of a break-in, he returned the gun to the kitchen counter rather than a secured location before going back to bed, the Post reported.

It is that gap — between checking for an intruder and securing the weapon — that investigators appear to be focused on as they weigh the involuntary manslaughter charge, based on the Post's account of the expected police action. The Post's report does not say whether the pistol's holster had a trigger lock or other secondary safety mechanism, nor does it detail how the 5-year-old was able to access and fire the weapon.

The case has not yet produced a formal police report publicly available in English-language coverage, and the Post's story represents the most complete account available of the incident as of Monday evening.