Who is Joseph Smith? Louisiana man confesses on video Mya Vimal Patel, 5, was killed by stray bullet from his gun
SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA: A five-year-old girl died after being shot in the head by a stray bullet. The incident took place on Saturday, March 20, at a Super 8 Motel. The young girl, identified as Mya Vimal Patel, was sitting by the window when the shooting occured.
The girl's mother was grazed in her arm by the same bullet that struck Mya in the head. According to FOX 8 Live WVUE, Joseph Smith was arrested for the shooting on Sunday, in Texas.
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Who is Joseph Smith?
The accused has been identified as Joseph Smith, 33, who also made a video expressing remorse over the tragedy. The video obtained by a social media group, Love Shreveport-Bossier, is over 4-minute-long video and sees Smith address his victim, Mya, explaining the fatal shooting was an accident. “To the little girl that got hit by the bullet, I promise you on my soul that was not my intentions, and I am so, so sorry,” Smith says in the video.
Smith claims his gun “went off” mid-confrontation with a man who had allegedly stolen a gun from Smith's girlfriend. He immediately fled the scene after the shot was fired, but wasn't aware that Mya had been injured. “When I found out, I fell on the floor, crying,” Smith says in the video. “Because I have kids… I know she barely just started living her life.”
Mya Patel's death
Stating he wants to ask for Mya's fgorgiveness and wishing he could offer the girl a hug, Smith says in the video that he has also “contemplated suicide” over the incident. The video was allegedly made when Smith was still on the run from the police, and Patel had not yet succumbed to her injuries. The little girl died on Monday, March 22, two days after she was shot.
“The only reason I’m running is because I don’t have enough money to fight a case,” Smith says in the video. Smith is currently awaiting extradition to Shreveport, Louisiana, where the shooting had taken place. Patel's family has also started a fundraiser for Tiny Smiling Faces in the girl's honor, to help disadvantaged children through the organization's non-profit work. The fundraiser has since raised over $33,000.
News of this comes after that of a nine-year-old girl who was shot dead by her neighbor whom she had posted about on TikTok. Felicia Kononchuk from Chita city had posted on TikTok saying she feared that the man next door would break down her front door as he banged on it for an hour while her father was out. The video shows her concerned that her "drunk and obscene neighbor" would attack her in her father's absence. But after her father was back, there was a soft knock at the door and Kononchuk opened it thinkling it was her friend, but it was actually the neighbor, 33-year-old Vasily Dunets, who then shot her and has since been arrested.