A dad in Phoenix, Arizona, faces charges after his 9-year-old son found his dad’s AR-style rifle and used it to shoot his 5-year-old sister, authorities say.

Irvin Eduardo Ramos-Jimenez, 33, has been indicted on felony charges of child abuse, domestic violence, and misconduct involving a weapon, Maricopa County Attorney Rachel Mitchell announced.

On June 3, Ramos-Jimenez’s young son reportedly found “an unsecured AR-style rifle” that the father “stored in the nine-year-old’s bedroom.” The suspect was outside of their home when he heard a loud bang come from inside, according to local outlet Arizona’s Family, which reported that Ramos-Jimenez ran into his son’s bedroom to find that his young daughter, Layla Ramos, had been shot in the torso.

Neighbors are said to have seen the boy run out of the house screaming following the shooting.

Phoenix police officers responded to the intersection of 7th Avenue and Broadway Boulevard due to a report of a “critically injured child.”

Ramos-Jimenez initially told investigators that his daughter had been stabbed, the local TV station reported, and police learned he had driven his daughter from their home to meet an ambulance.

Officers found the father and daughter and confirmed that the girl was suffering from a gunshot wound. After being transported to a hospital, Layla died from her injury, authorities said.

At the time of the shooting, Ramos-Jimenez was prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm “or any other weapon designed for lethal use,” the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office said. This was reportedly because he had been convicted of drug trafficking charges.

The suspect’s trial is scheduled to begin on March 5, 2026.

Layla was remembered in a fundraiser as “so loving, smart, and a truly beautiful soul” — a “little princess who got her wings way too soon.”