Infant Girl Fatally Shot Inside Drug-Filled Home: Police

A Florida toddler has died after she was fatally shot inside a home filled with drugs, according to the sheriff's department, who say they have identified a "person of interest."

Law-enforcement officers in Flagler County, north of Orlando, said they were alerted to reports of a shooting in Palm Coast on Sunday night.

When deputies and firefighters arrived at the home, they performed life-saving measures in a bid to save the 18-month-old child's life.

The toddler was transported to the AdventHealth Palm Coast hospital, located northeast of Orlando, but she was pronounced dead shortly after arriving.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Stanly said during a press briefing on Monday: "This was a life cut too short and we know that God now has an angel. We extend our deepest sympathy to the parents and the family."

He continued: "When deputies arrived, there were eight people inside the home at the time of the shooting.

"We do have a person of interest, but we are still investigating all persons inside the home so no one has been ruled out. The biological mother was present."

The sheriff said the firearm used was a U.S.-made, tactical, multi-caliber pistol that could use a variety of ammunition. Police are now working to confirm which type of ammunition was used in the deadly shooting.

Stanly said deputies seized 420 grams (14.8 pounds) of marijuana and 11 grams of a "white powdery substance," which they believed "is either cocaine or heroin."

They arrested CJ Nelson Jr., 21, for violation of probation for a gun-related offense as he was not allowed to be in possession of a weapon.

He is being held in the Flagler County Jail and has not yet been charged with the toddler's death, according to the sheriff.

Stanly added welfare checks and 911 callouts had been made to the house on several previous occasions.

Newsweek has contacted the Flagler County Sheriff's Office for comment via email.

According to the Gun Violence Archive, a database that collects information about shootings from across the country, 18 children aged 0 to 11 have been fatally shot in Florida since January 1 this year.

A 2023 Pew Research Center study found the number of teens and children killed by gunfire in the U.S. increased by almost 50 percent between 2019 and 2021.

In 2019, there were 1,732 gun deaths among children and teens under 18 in the country and that number had increased to 2,590 in 2021.

The Pew Research Center added: "The gun death rate among children and teens—a measure that adjusts for changes in the nation's population—rose from 2.4 fatalities per 100,000 minor residents in 2019 to 3.5 per 100,000 two years later, a 46 percent increase.

"Both the number and rate of children and teens killed by gunfire in 2021 were higher than at any point since at least 1999."