A 10-year-old girl is dead and an Indiana teenager is facing adult felony charges after police say he deceived an entire family — including young children — into believing a loaded firearm was a harmless toy.
The shooting happened on February 7 in Mishawaka, Indiana, at the home where Sophia Burks lived with her family. Officers responded to a call and found Sophia in the basement bedroom of her older sister, dead from a gunshot wound. She was just 10 years old.
Jacob Olvera, 18, now faces four felony charges in connection with Sophia’s death. According to a criminal complaint, Olvera had brought a gun to his girlfriend’s home days before the shooting, telling everyone — including the children in the house — that it was a BB gun or toy. He left the firearm in his girlfriend’s bedroom, where Sophia later found it.
Sophia’s mother told police she heard a loud bang before her son ran upstairs saying his sister had been shot. She found Sophia with severe injuries.
Police say Olvera left a “heavy” backpack in his girlfriend’s room shortly before the shooting, then left the house with his girlfriend and her grandfather — leaving the children alone with it.
When questioned, Olvera denied bringing a real gun. But police confirmed the weapon was a real firearm. He was “unable to explain” how it got there, then stopped cooperating and requested a lawyer.
A search of Olvera’s home turned up more weapons, including a firearm conversion switch — an illegal device that converts semi-automatic guns to fully automatic. Since Olvera was 17 at the time, any possession of firearm-related items was illegal.
He is charged with criminal recklessness, dangerous possession of a firearm by a child, and two counts of possession of a machine gun. He remains jailed on a $25,000 bond. His next court date is June 17.
