3-year-old girl fatally shoots herself

"If a gun lock had been on this gun, 100 percent guarantee it couldn't have happened," said Detroit Police Chief Warren Evans.

One day after a 3-year-old Alexia Bostick accidentally shot and killed herself with a gun that police said is registered to her grandmother, Detroit Police Chief Evans is calling the case tragic and one that sadly serves as a reminder to secure their weapons and use gun locks.

"It appears to have been in a night stand drawer. That was the perfect height for a 3-year-old to be able to get in," he said.

"You don't never think a 3-year-old would find something like that and actually use it," added an anonymous friend so grief stricken that she did not want to be identified.

Investigators say the little girl climbed the stairs of this east side home, found the loaded handgun and somehow it went off. Her 42-year-old grandmother was at home when it happened.

"It's one of those things where we don't have all sides of the story. You can't be where your child is at all times. You can't look at them all the time," said neighbor Dalton Dexter and urged the public not rush to judgment.

Meantime, loved ones are remembering little Alexia during happier times. She was often seen playing in the front yard. Her grandmother often baby-sat her while her mother worked.

"She was a happy little girl, playing and walking. Real friendly and stuff, you know?" said the anonymous friend who was also sad to hear the grandmother may now face charges.

"The pain she's having, and what she had to live with, that's punishment enough," she said.

"I don't think the grandmother wanted to see anything happen. The problem is, it happened," said Chief Evans.