Photo: GoFundMe
A mother and actress is dead after her neighbor fatally shot her while cleaning his gun.
Carlether Foley was fatally struck by a bullet that discharged while her neighbor was handling his gun. Gwinnett County police say that Foley was found unresponsive in her bed by her teenage son, Keyandre Benjamin, on the night of September 25 hours after a bullet came through the wall of her apartment and fatally struck her in the head.
"That day that it happened, I remember vividly," Foley's cousin, Ebony Curry, told 11 Alive News. "Our mutual cousin gave me a call and she called me hysterically. I couldn't even understand what she was saying. She told me that she believes something happened to Carlether but we didn't know exactly what. They were very nervous about what they were hearing because they had spoken to her son, who called them hysterically saying that he had found his mom unresponsive."
Curry told the outlet that Foley had moved to Atlanta with her teenage son to pursue a career in acting. Now, her family is raising money to cover funeral expenses, including getting her remains back home to Houston.
"It's very difficult speaking of her and past tense because it's so recent," Curry said. "I would never in a million years think that we would be burying her."
Police arrested and charged the 22-year-old neighbor has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless conduct. The neighbor's attorney, Jeff Sliz, told the outlet, he didn't call the police when it happened because he is enlisting in the Navy and didn't want anything to jeopardize that.
Instead, Sliz said his client went next door to offer to pay for damages, leaving his name and number on a note apologizing for any damage he might have caused with the discharge, not knowing he'd taken someone's life.
"If you're not responsible enough or not trained in having a weapon, just don't do it because a life is lost," Curry said.
Foley's son is currently with his grandmother and father in Houston. "I can't imagine what he's going through and I can't imagine how he's going to be able to focus on his studies. So if we can just help him in any way, to make sure that going to college is a dream realized for him," Curry said.
The family has already surpassed its $15,000 goal, and says any additional money will go towards Keyandre's educational fund.
To donate, click here.
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