HIGH POINT, N.C. (WGHP) — A 14-year-old was accidentally shot and killed in High Point.
Since the beginning of the year, two different families have planned funerals for teenagers after a gun went off accidentally and hit them.
“These kids these days … They are just doing what they see on TV. Just keep it away so they won’t have to go through this and be hurting like I am for my child,” Tiffany Harris said.
Her daughter Kiasia Birchett was killed Friday afternoon at her cousin’s home in High Point.
Harris tells FOX 8 that Kiasia was a sweet girl and always smiling. She loved to make jokes and give her mom a hard time like any teenager.
Harris moved Kiasia and her 11-year-old sister to Clemmons two years ago from Jersey City. She wanted her girls to get away from violence and have more opportunities.
“I loved it. We loved it. My kids were at peace,” Harris said.
Moving to the Triad meant being closer to Kiasia’s 16-year-old cousin who lived in High Point. She went to the beach with her cousin and was planning to go to Carowinds that Saturday, but she never got the chance.
Harris lost Kiasia from an accidental bullet wound to her chest by her 16-year-old cousin inside a home on Scarlett Drive.
Harris’ family is one of a growing group. According to the North Carolina Child Fatality Task Force, between 2012 and 2021, youth firearm deaths increased by 231 percent.
In 2021, 121 young people died. In the same year, a survey showed 30 percent of North Carolina high school students could locate a gun in an hour without an adult knowing.
Harris says the 16-year-old cousin got the gun from a parent’s lockbox without permission. She says the teen had the key to the lockbox and opened it to take out her father’s gun.
Kiasia and the 16-year-old were filming a TikTok with the gun when it went off.
“It broke my heart because why would you do that … Y’all know better,” Harris said.
Harris says through this pain, she forgives the 16-year-old and hopes one day the teen can heal and forgive herself as well.
“I’m hurting for her as well. She doesn’t want to talk to anybody,” Harris said. “I just feel so bad for her. She was just a sweet little kid.”
We reached out to the High Point Police Department, and they do not have an update on the case.
