Alexandria man charged in shooting of 5-year-old girl

Melissa Gregory | The Town Talk

An Alexandria man who was "messing" with a gun has been charged in the Monday afternoon shooting of a 5-year-old girl, say police.

The Alexandria Police Department responded to a home in the 2100 block of Alma Street around 4:15 p.m., finding the girl "conscious and alert," reads a release.

She was shot "in the side," it reads. The girl was taken to a local hospital. She remains listed in stable condition on Tuesday morning.

Police initially were told that a gun had been fired from outside the house, "however, this was quickly disproved," reads a Tuesday morning update.

"After processing the crime scene and interviewing witnesses to the incident, detectives were able to ascertain that the shooting was accidental."

Detectives also identified a man, 19-year-old Joshua Demond Vercher of the same block, who had been "in the room with the child and was messing with the gun and accidentally fired it," it reads.

After help had been called for, the gun was "disposed of" before officers arrived. The release also states that detectives determined Vercher had fired the gun into the air near the house on Sunday night.

Vercher was booked into the Rapides Parish Detention Center on Monday, just before midnight, and was charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile, possession of a controlled dangerous substance I with intent to distribute, illegal carrying of a weapon with drugs and illegal use of a weapon.

He remains in jail early Tuesday morning with no bond set.

The girl's identity is not being released.