Anthony
Super Moderator
Premila Lal, 18, was killed when her friend, Nerrek Daniel Galley, 21, reportedly shot her in a Longmont, Colorado home.
The 18-year-old girl and her cousin apparently snuck into her house Friday to scare her brother and friend. But when Nerrek Daniel Galley, 21, heard a noise he shot and then identified the teen later, police say.
“Premila Lal jumped out of a closet as a harmless joke to surprise a family friend,†her father said.
But the noise scared the friend, who then grabbed his gun and shot her.
Around 8 p.m. Premila Lal went to the house she used to live in with her family. The family has been getting it ready to sell. Nerrek Galley, a 21-year-old friend of the family, was staying at the house.
"They somehow entered the house and my son and Nerrek didn't know it was them," her father, said.
"After she was shot, then Nerrek realized it was Premila."
"I heard a girl screaming from inside the house. So, I looked out and I saw them coming out," neighbor Elaine Haddox told reporters. "There were three guys and a girl. And they were all running out of the house, screaming, 'Hurry, hurry. We`ve got to go.'
The four of them drove to Longmont United Hospital where Lal was pronounced dead around 9 p.m., according to police.
In their investigation police confirm what the father's description of what happened involving the closet, and Galley's gun.
The police released a statement saying the teen's death was "unintended and extremely tragic."
"At this time we are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the shooting, but there is no danger to the community," Longmont Police Cmdr. Said.
Galley has been charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment and permitting a juvenile to have a firearm. Authorities say they are still determining whether to charge Galley in the teen's death.
"We lost a daughter, so we don't want anybody else to lose their son, you know, especially when it was accident,"
Her family said she was very successful as a student and athlete.
"She graduated with 3.87 GPA with changing three schools. So she was a go-getter. We're going to miss her," said her father.
