Investigators say the shooting happened around 10:12 p.m. Wednesday at a home in the 2000 block of Rue Racine Drive.

MARRERO, La. — A 9-year-old Marrero boy is dead and his 18-year-old cousin has been arrested after an accidental shooting Wednesday night.

Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said Kamone Thomas was booked on negligent homicide, obstruction of justice and possession of marijuana.

Investigators say the shooting happened around 10:12 p.m. Thursday at a home in the 2000 block of Rue Racine Drive. Deputies say Thomas said the child was playing with the gun that belonged to Thomas in a bedroom when he "playfully" tried to disarm him. In the process, the gun discharged and the 9-year-old was shot in the head.

Family members identified the child to WWL-TV as Marquis Thomas Jr. Family members who were at the home during the incident took him to West Jefferson Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

"He was funny and he was smart," Marquis Thomas' mother, Markia, said. "Full of life."

Markia Thomas said her son loved basketball and riding his hover board.

"He was adorable," she said. "He was my everything. If you would have met him, you would have loved him too."

Sheriff Lopinto said investigators will probably never know whether it was Kamone Thomas or the child who pulled the trigger.

"We know that firearms don't go off automatically," Lopinto said. "It's because there's negligence because people are handling them and not storing them correctly, not putting them in the right hands."

Lopinto said Kamone Thomas panicked after the shooting and disposed of the gun in a canal. Deputies are still searching for the weapon.

The sheriff said Kamone Thomas originally told investigators his nine-year-old cousin shot himself. Lopinto maintains that story did not match up with the ballistics findings.

"It was very unlikely that he had actually shot himself whether it was accidentally or intentionally," Lopinto said.

Lopinto said he does not expect to make any other arrests in the case.

"It's sad. We have a 9-year-old that is dead today because of actions of someone who doesn't secure a firearm," Lopinto said. "These are always tragic situations."