Shaquille Kornegay got hands on father's gun while he slept

Friends and family members came together in prayer Thursday to remember a toddler who accidentally shot and killed herself with her father’s gun.Shaquille Kornegay shot herself while her father slept in their home on Lawn Avenue one week ago. Teddy bears and toys now sit on the step of the house where a vigil in the girl’s memory took place.Her father, Courteney Block, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors said he hid the gun from police before running to get medical help for the girl.People who attended the vigil for Shaquille released balloons in her memory and thought about what happened.“Babies are nosy. They like to climb. They’ll search for things and you have to put things away,” said Edmorina Powell of the AdHoc Group Against Crime.Powell said she didn’t know the family, but she understands its pain.“It could happen to my baby and it really is a heartbreak to know a child loses its life because of somebody else’s mistake,” Powell saidThe emotions at the vigil were too raw for Shaquille’s grieving mother, who had to be taken away in an ambulance.“It was hard. Very hard,” Powell said. “When I think about her, I think about my granddaughter (who is) the same age.”Free gun locks were handed out at the event in hopes of preventing another tragedy."I say today, go home, put your arms around your babies and tell them you love them, because this just might be the last time," Powell said.

Friends and family members came together in prayer Thursday to remember a toddler who accidentally shot and killed herself with her father’s gun.

Shaquille Kornegay shot herself while her father slept in their home on Lawn Avenue one week ago. Teddy bears and toys now sit on the step of the house where a vigil in the girl’s memory took place.


Her father, Courteney Block, 24, has been charged with second-degree murder. Prosecutors said he hid the gun from police before running to get medical help for the girl.

People who attended the vigil for Shaquille released balloons in her memory and thought about what happened.

“Babies are nosy. They like to climb. They’ll search for things and you have to put things away,” said Edmorina Powell of the AdHoc Group Against Crime.

Powell said she didn’t know the family, but she understands its pain.

“It could happen to my baby and it really is a heartbreak to know a child loses its life because of somebody else’s mistake,” Powell said

The emotions at the vigil were too raw for Shaquille’s grieving mother, who had to be taken away in an ambulance.

“It was hard. Very hard,” Powell said. “When I think about her, I think about my granddaughter (who is) the same age.”

Free gun locks were handed out at the event in hopes of preventing another tragedy.

"I say today, go home, put your arms around your babies and tell them you love them, because this just might be the last time," Powell said.