Father admits fatally shooting daughter, 4, in the face after brother, 5, was blamed by police
The boy’s godmother, Crystal Dougherty (pictured) is comforted by a friend (Picture: CBS News)
A father has admitted that he shot his daughter dead in the face after police blamed the girl’s older brother.
Maurice ‘Stephon’ Phillips fled the scene yesterday but was later found by police who questioned him and he said the gun had gone off accidentally.


Police initially said that the four-year-old girl was shot in the face by her five-year-old brother. She was pronounced dead five minutes after the shooting yesterday afternoon at 2.25pm in Upper Kensington, Philadelphia.
The four-year-old girl was shot in the face by her father
The four-year-old girl was shot in the face by her father
Phillips posted a picture of a semi-automatic gun on Facebook
Phillips posted a picture of a semi-automatic gun on Facebook
A semi-automatic gun was recovered at Philips’s home and he has now been arrested, according to WNCN.
Sergeant Eric Gripp says police are trying to determine who was in the home when the shooting occurred.
Crystal Dougherty, the boy’s godmother, said: ‘[The family] are outgoing, they are supportive of others. They’re there for me when I was going through rough times, they’re there for everybody.