Officials: Report of accidental shooting turns to murder investigation after body of teen found near Mississippi park

Published 5:39 am Sunday, August 11, 2024

An early evening report of an accidental shooting has turned into a murder investigation after the body of a teenage girl was found in a Mississippi park.

WTVA in Tupelo reports that the Columbus Police Department has charged Dietrix Cunninghan, 20, with murder in connection with the death of 18-year-old Abria Harris, who was found near Moores Creek Road in the area of the River Walk in Columbus.

Harris’s body was found by the River Walk in Columbus, Mississippi, shortly after 6 p.m. Saturday. The body was reportedly found with a single gunshot wound to the head.

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Officials say that they received a 911 call earlier in the day from a man who called to say a friend was playing with a gun and accidentally shot herself.

Cunningham, who is reportedly Harris’s ex-boyfriend, was later charged with murder. He is being held at the Lowndes County Detention Center awaiting his initial appearance.