On August 11th, 21-year-old Shamaya Lynn, an Altamonte Springs resident, was on a Zoom call with a co-worker when she suddenly fell backwards and was unresponsive. This coincided with a loud bang.

That bang was the gunshot that killed the young woman instantly.

Veondre Avery, Lynn’s boyfriend and father of their 2-year-old boy, left a loaded pistol in a backpack, and that backpack was left on the floor of the bedroom.

Their 2-year-old son found the loaded pistol in a backpack. He pulled out the handgun, pointed it at his mom and pulled the trigger.

When 22-year-old Veondre Avery returned home and found his partner dead on the floor, he called police, not knowing they are already aware of the tragedy and en route to his home.

“I literally just got home and I come in the room… [and] my girlfriend who was working on the computer, she’s just laid back and there’s blood everywhere,” Avery said to a 911 operator.

Shamaya Lynn was declared dead at the scene shortly after First Responders arrived.

 

Father Charged with Negligent Homicide

On October 12, 2021, Veondre Avery was arrested on charges of negligent homicide and unsafe storage of a firearm.

Now a young boy’s mother is dead and his father is almost surely on his way to prison for a long time.

This tragic and heart-wrenching ending is so unnecessary.

“To anyone and everyone tuning in to this story, if you own a firearm, please keep it locked and secured,” Officer Roberto Ruiz J said. “Incidents like this can be avoided.”

If Veondre Avery applied common sense to his firearm possession, he would have stored his firearm safely so his young son could not access it. He wouldn’t leave it in his son’s “Paw Patrol” backpack.

That’s just plain stupid.

It’s also a mistake he will now pay for with years of lost liberty, and a mistake that will leave his 2-year-old son in the hands of relatives or worse, the state.