12-year-old Kamilah Peniston shot in the head by her brother

On Monday 30 April, 12-year-old Kamilah Peniston was shot in the head at about 7.30pm in her home on Wembley Road, Gorton, Manchester. She was initially transferred to Manchester Children’s Hospital for treatment where she was placed on a life support machine. Although she was alive, doctors confirmed that she was brain dead and the decision was made to switch off the life support machine just before 9am on Tuesday 1 May, her mother’s birthday. The gun used to kill her was a E.38 double action revolver which had been converted from a ‘gas alarm’ pistol that police described as “powerful”.

It later emerged that the person responsible for shooting Kamilah was her 16-year-old brother, Kasha who had discovered the loaded firearm hidden in the garden of their house. The gun belonged to the former boyfriend of the children’s mother, 33-year-old Natasha Peniston, who was aware of its presence. Kasha had been left in charge of his three sisters including 7-year-old twin girls, Keira and Kwamaela. He had been playing with the gun when he accidentally fired it, hitting his sister in the forehead as she lay on the sofa. In October, Kasha received a two year sentence for manslaughter to be served in a young offender’s institution. Judge Justice Holland said he would not implement the mandatory prison sentenced for possession of an illegal firearm for Kasha because he already had a “lifelong punishment” for killing his own sister. He said: "I bear in mind the appalling tragedy that underlines it, that the victim was a truly loved sister." Natasha Peniston received a three-year sentence for possession of an illegal firearm and ammunition.