Published: Mar. 31, 2022 at 10:42 PM CDT
ST. LOUIS (KMOV) - New questions are now circling around a St. Louis teen’s death that played out on a livestream.
Last Friday, 12-year-old Paris Harvey and 14-year-old Kuaron Harvey were found shot to death inside the Cupples Station Loft Apartments. St. Louis Police say Paris shot and killed her cousin with a gun and then shot herself. The entire incident played out on an Instagram livestream. “Ain’t no way my baby is supposed to be gone,” said Dara Harvey, Kuaron’s mother.
News 4 sat down with Kuaron’s mother nearly a week after the fatal incident. Tears poured down her face as she remembered her son and how inseparable they were.
“He was so loving, respectful,” said Harvey. “He loved go-cart riding, like we were getting ready to go to six flags. [It’s] just a lot that he’s going to miss out.”
Harvey shared a longer version of the livestream that showed her son being shot to death. She let News 4 air the video, but the station chose only to show the moments leading up to the shooting and not the incident itself.
“This video wasn’t supposed to get out I feel like, but it got out so we could see what really happened,” said Harvey.
The video shows the young girl, Paris, holding a gun. It looks like she is playing with the trigger and safety on the gun, and eventually, she motions at someone who is out of the frame. Kuaron comes into the frame and Paris points the gun at his head. The gun goes off. Kuaron falls to the ground. Paris jumps back and falls, and shortly after a second gunshot goes off.
“I don’t know the truth. I don’t know what was all going on, but I want to know. But I want to know,” said Harvey. “Because he wasn’t ready to go.”
Harvey said she did not know her son was going to the Downtown apartment complex, but she was trusting that he would be okay when family arrived to pick him up.
“His cousin took him there, which is Paris’ brother,” she said.
St. Louis Police are still investigating this as a murder-suicide. There are currently no charges or arrests in connection with this incident, and police have not confirmed who the owner of the gun was. However, some of Paris’ family members told the St. Louis Post Dispatch they thought it was Kuaron’s gun.
News 4 asked Harvey if that was her or anyone in her household’s gun, and she said no.
“That wasn’t his gun,” News 4 asked.
“No,” said Harvey. “I am not a bad mother. I am not. I did my best with my baby, everybody knows this.”
Harvey said she does not believe her son’s death was an accident, like other family members have recently said. News 4 reached out to Paris’ mother and grandmother since the incident for an interview or comment but have not heard back.
Harvey said she hopes the police will find out what really happened. As for the rest of the community, and in the wake of another recent shooting death involving children, she hopes this is a lesson to be careful with guns.
“Please ya’ll, put the guns down, ya’ll. It’s taking away too many babies, too many people period,” said Harvey. “If ya’ll can get them off the streets, get them off the streets.”
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