Girl shoots self, dies after finding gun under grandmother's pillow

A girl is dead after finding a gun under her grandmother's pillow in Detroit, Michigan.

Police say Mariah Davis found the gun and accidentally shot herself.

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Detroit police Sgt. Michael Woody told WWJ police responded to a call around midnight Tuesday.

Mariah was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.

According to an initial investigation report, the girl found the gun in an upstairs bedroom in the house. She accidentally shot herself while her grandmother was downstairs.

The Detroit News reported that the grandmother was babysitting.

"It was an awful tragedy that has all of us shook up, and our heart broke," Mariah's aunt, Freda Davis, told WWJ. "It seems like our souls was ripped out of us. She was a lovely little girl. All she loved to do was sing."

Police said the two other children, ages 1 and 3, were also upstairs when the incident occurred, but were not hurt.

“People need to either keep their guns unloaded or use child locks,” Assistant police Chief Steve Dolunt said. “We’ve had several programs in which we’ve given free child locks. It’s sad and tragic that a child has to die this way when it could have been avoided.

"Gun owners need to be responsible. We’ve been doing gun safety programs for years, and we’ll keep doing them. People think, 'It won’t happen to me,' until it happens to them."

An investigation is underway. No arrests have been made.