Yanelly Zoller, 4 (YouCaring.com)
A 4-year-old girl in Florida died last Thursday after she accidentally shot herself in the chest while reaching into her grandmother's purse searching for candy, her father told The Tampa Bay Times.
Yanelly Zoller died Sept. 14 after accidentally pulling the gun's trigger, reported.
Nelly, as she was known, was staying with her grandparents Michel and Christie Zoller in North Tampa when the tragedy took place, the report said.
Both grandparents were home at the time of the shooting.
"She was extremely close to them and would get so excited when she got to stay at her nana's house," Shane Zoller, the girl's father, said. "She was attached to her nana's hip."
Tampa police were continuing to investigate the shooting, but said they had no reason to doubt the Zollers' story, the Washington Post reported.
The Hillsborough County medical examiner’s office reported that the girl died of an accidental gunshot wound to the chest, perforating her lungs, aorta and esophagus.
The father was on his way over to his parents’ house to pick Nelly up when he saw police lights out front.
"She just wanted some damn candy," he told the Times.
The 22-year-old father has one other child with one more on the way. He shared custody of Nelly with her mother.
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to raise money for Nelly’s funeral costs.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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