Killer who pressed loaded gun to ‘scared’ 4-year-old girl’s chest and pulled trigger claimed ‘firearms safety’ lesson: Prosecutor

Breanna Runions

Breanna Runions (Roane County jail)

A 25-year-old Tennessee woman faces murder and aggravated child abuse charges after she allegedly pressed a loaded firearm up against a “scared” 4-year-old girl’s chest and pulled the trigger during a purported gun safety lesson.

Prosecutors in the office of 9th Judicial District Attorney General Russell Johnson allege that Breanna Gayle Devall Runions shot and killed Evangaline Gunter on Sunday at a residence in Rockwood, Roane County, where Runions, another unidentified woman, and a second child were present. Neither woman was a parent to the children.

When police arrived on the scene, Runions told officers that the shooting took place while she was showing the child “firearm safety,” according to an arrest warrant obtained by Law&Crime.

“Runions removed her Taurus Millenium 9mm handgun from its case, then removed the magazine. Runions related that she then called Gunter over to show her firearm safety, at which point she pressed the barrel of the gun into the front of Gunter’s torso and pulled the trigger, discharging a round into Gunter,” the police report states.

If it’s true that the magazine was removed when the gun was fired, then it would seem there was still a bullet in the chamber.

The defendant’s reported explanation, already suspect in the eyes of investigators, looked even worse after the other woman in the home allegedly told authorities that Runions punished the children that Sunday morning for not waking them up and for eating the second woman’s food.

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