Authorities in the Lehigh Valley charged a teenager as a juvenile with involuntary manslaughter in the shotgun shooting death of another teen.
The Lehigh County district attorney's office said Wednesday that the 16-year-old was charged in the April 8 shooting death of 17-year-old Chris Perez in a home along Orchard Road Lower Macungie Township.
District Attorney Jim Martin said in a statement that the suspect was with Perez and three other friends in the basement when Perez asked to see a 12-gauge shotgun. Witnesses said he handed back the weapon to the teen, who had said it was unloaded, and the teen waved it and pointed it in the direction of the victim, and it discharged.
A witness said the teen appeared shocked and immediately dropped the weapon. The shooting was reported to police as accidental.
