Mother Faces Charges in Daughter’s Shooting Death
NORRISTOWN PA – A 31-year-old mother and Upper Providence resident, whom authorities allege legally owned a handgun related to the fatal shooting of her 12-year-old daughter by her 13-year-old son, was charged by the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office with three third-degree felonies in the incident, it said Monday (March 29, 2021). The son has already been charged with third-degree murder.
Daisy Vasquez, of Larchwood Court in the township’s Collegeville section, turned herself in Monday to face felony charges of endangering the welfare of children, possession of a firearm by a minor–responsibility of adult, and hindering apprehension or prosecution, as well as a misdemeanor charge of recklessly endangering another person. All are related to the March 19 death of her daughter, Jasiyah Vasquez.
On March 19 shortly before 8 a.m., Upper Providence police and county detectives allege, Vasquez asked her son, Jah’sir Vasquez, to retrieve a 9mm handgun from her car. They claim home surveillance video shows the shooting, which depicts Jah’sir entering the house with the handgun in his right hand and then pointing it at Jasiyah. Seconds later the gun, still pointed in his sister’s direction, discharged and Jasiyah collapsed, investigators said.
Responding officers found the young girl lying in the home’s living room with a single gunshot wound to
her chest. She was pronounced dead at the scene. Her funeral was held Saturday (March 27). Jah’sir Vasquez, despite his age, earlier was charged with third-degree murder in criminal court as required by Pennsylvania law, District Attorney Kevin Steele said.
Daisy Vasquez allegedly lied to detectives about the events that led up to the death of her daughter, they said.
“The death of this girl is a tragedy, but it could have been prevented,” Steele said Monday. “A pivotal aspect is the mother asking her child to go outside to the driveway to retrieve her handgun from the car; a handgun that had a bullet chambered and ready to shoot.”
“A parent has a legal responsibility to protect their children, and a handgun owner has a legal responsibility to keep their guns out of the hands of children. This defendant failed on both counts. Now a young girl is dead, and a boy is facing murder charges,” he added.
The mother was arraigned before Magisterial District Court Justice Richard Welsh, who set unsecured bail at $50,000, with the condition that the defendant is not allowed to possess a firearm. A preliminary hearing is set for April 27, also before Welsh. Her case will be prosecuted by Assistant Chief of Trials Brianna Ringwood, who oversees the DA’s Family Protection Unit.
A preliminary hearing in the case of son Jah’sir had been set for March 26.
Police line tape photo by Tony Webster via WikiMedia, used under a Creative Commons license
