Tragic Game Turns Deadly: Teen Accidentally Shoots Girlfriend in Russian Roulette Mishap

A Missouri teenager is facing a prison sentence after the tragic death of her 16-year-old girlfriend during a game of Russian roulette. Prosecutors revealed that the teen fatally shot her girlfriend while recklessly spinning the gun, an incident that has left a grieving mother seeking justice.

“That’s how the gun went off and took my daughter’s life,” shared Nicole Pettis, the mother of Mattison Johnson, in a discussion with local NBC station KSDK. This revelation came as Mary Cornelius, aged 19, received a seven-year prison sentence after admitting guilt to first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

At the time of the shooting on January 3, Johnson’s younger sisters, aged 9 and 11, were present at the family home. It was one of these sisters who discovered the heartbreaking scene, as Pettis recalled.

“My nine-year-old called me,” Pettis remembered emotionally. “Her voice was frantic as she begged, ‘Mommy, you have to come home.’ It was a struggle to understand her through her tears, but she managed to say, ‘Mommy, Matti was shot.’”

Pettis has since voiced concerns that her daughter was in an abusive relationship with Cornelius. She believes that Cornelius’s careless handling of the firearm during their dangerous game was not accidental, casting doubt on the tragic circumstances surrounding her daughter’s death.

“I will get justice for my daughter,” Pettis told reporters when Cornelius was first charged. “I don’t want to see anything bad happen to her besides sit behind bars, think about it for the rest of your life, hold that image in your head for the rest of your life of what you did to my daughter. I hope that she haunts you, God forgive me, but I hope that my daughter eats her alive every night when she goes to bed.”

Cornelius reportedly apologized in court at her sentencing last Thursday, as did her sister. “A child is gone, so you’ll have to take responsibility,” the sister said, according to KSDK.