PHILADELPHIA -- A father charged with shooting and killing his 4-year-old daughter this weekend allegedly tried to pin the crime on his other young child, police said.

Maurice "Stephon" Phillips, 30, of Philadelphia, has been charged with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, as well as other crimes, in connection with the shooting death of 4-year-old Tahirah Phillips on Saturday afternoon in the city's Kensington neighborhood.

Philadelphia Police Homicide Capt. James Clark told reporters at a news conference on Monday that Phillips entered a room in the family's home where his 4-year-old daughter and six of her siblings were watching television and started "carelessly and recklessly waving and pointing the gun around in the room."

One shot was fired that struck Tahirah Phillips in the head, police said.

"We don't believe that he intended that to happen," Clark said, "but because of his grossly negligent acts this is ultimately what happened."

"It's a stupid, idiotic act. He was completely reckless," Clark said.

The 4-year-old girl was pronounced dead at the scene just before 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Clark said Phillips tried to initially blame the shooting on his 5-year-old daughter.

Maurice Phillips has been charged in the shooting death of his 4-year-old daughter.

"He went as far as to punish the 5-year-old to show how much he felt that she did this," Clark said. "Also through investigation we found out that he took blood and actually wiped it on her shirt to try to even more so show that she's the one that fired the lethal shot."

After the shooting in the front bedroom of his family's home on East Mayfield Street, police said the other children, who ranged in age from seven-months-old to 13-years-old, "became upset and began yelling."

Phillips then got up from a bed where he was sitting, police said, hit his 5-year-old daughter "with a closed fist" and wiped blood from his hand onto her shirt.

Phillips then carried his 4-year-old daughter into a rear bedroom in the home and called his fiance home, police said. After his fiance arrived home, Phillips changed his clothes and fled, police said.

Phillips turned himself into authorities on Saturday night and continued to blame the 5-year-old at first but eventually took responsibility for the crime, police said.

A judge denied bail for Phillips early Monday morning, court records show.

A preliminary hearing in the case has been scheduled for May 4.

Phillips also faces charges of endangering the welfare of children, possession of an instrument of crime and recklessly endangering another person.

Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LedgerErin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.