Arlington teen dies from accidental shooting

ARLINGTON — Arlington teen Lucinda “Luci” Kay Luna died just hours after being accidentally shot at home late Thursday night.
Luna, 19, was relaxing in her room with her boyfriend, another couple and their child around 11:30 p.m. when the accident happened, according to Earle Farrell, public information officer for the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.
The boyfriend, 18-year-old Brennan Fields, was showing the others a .45-caliber pistol his father had recently given him for graduation. He first removed the pistol’s magazine, but it suddenly went off anyway. Luna was standing right in front of him, and the bullet pierced her abdomen.
Farrell said that new or inexperienced gun owners might not realize that a live round stays in the chamber after the user racks the gun’s slide — even if the magazine is removed.
Luna was rushed to Regional One but died in surgery around 4 a.m.
No charges are being filed against Fields, Farrell said. The other couple and Fields gave statements about the accidental nature of the shooting.
All involved said Luna and Fields had no history of troubles and no signs of problems that night, and the girl’s parents love the boyfriend, he said. Luna’s obituary described Fields as her soul mate and best friend.
“It’s just a horrible, horrible tragedy,” Farrell said.
In her obituary, Luna’s family described the daughter they lost. “Luci loved to draw, write, read and study languages. She was a creative, witty and intelligent lady full of sunshine and life.”
She was the daughter of Brenda and Robert Reifers of Arlington, the granddaughter of Linda and Marvin Ward of Arlington, and the granddaughter of the late Holly and Ben Curtis of Nettleton, Miss. Visitation for her will be 5-8 p.m. June 5 at Memphis Funeral Home and Memorial Gardens, 3700 N. Germantown Road, Bartlett. Her funeral services will be at 2 p.m. on June 6.

[Editor’s note, 5:05 p.m. CDT 5-2-17: We originally published the family’s address, which was provided as part of the sheriff’s public report, with this story so that people would know where they can send cards of sympathy. However, upon reconsideration we removed the address as a courtesy to the family. Her online obituary includes a guest book and a link for sending flowers.]