Parents arrested in fatal shooting of NE Philly girl, 4; DA says father was dealing drugs at the time

Detectives are still trying to determine who fired the fatal bullet that struck 4-year-old Kastari “Star” Nunez in the abdomen inside her Northeast Philadelphia home just before midnight Monday. But they believe that her father was conducting a drug transaction in the house at the time.

That detail was revealed Thursday when District Attorney Larry Krasner said he had enough evidence to announce the arrests of the girl’s parents and another woman.

The girl’s killing was “unintended, however, it was not in any way, shape, or form accidental, because the shooting death resulted from a handgun which should have never been in the home of the father,” Anthony Voci, the district attorney’s homicide chief, said during a virtual news conference with Krasner.

The father, Alhakim Nunez, 29, is barred from owning a gun due to three drug convictions, in Georgia, Virginia, and Bucks County, Voci said.

The investigation revealed that the gun had been in the house for “a number of months,” and that both parents were there “with the loaded and unsecured weapon at the time that their daughter was shot and killed,” Voci said.

Nunez was charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children, both upgraded to felonies because of the girl’s age; corruption of minors; possession with intent to manufacture or deliver drugs; possession of a weapon by a convicted felon; obstructing justice, and related charges. He is jailed on a $1 million so-called Nebbia hold, which allows officials time to investigate the source of funds he may use to pay bail.

The girl’s mother, Iris Rodriguez, 29, was charged with the same crimes except possession of a weapon by a felon and drug possession. She is jailed on a $500,000 Nebbia hold.

Another woman who was in the house, Ashley Gushue, 31, was charged with unsworn falsification to authorities, tampering with evidence, and obstructing justice, all misdemeanors.

Some of the charges relate to the defendants’ conduct after the shooting, Voci said.

A man who was not named and was also in the house at the time of the shooting has not been charged.

The prosecutors said they are awaiting more evidence to determine who shot the girl. Her 2-year-old brother was also in the house and was not injured. The shooting took place on the first floor of the two-story brick rowhouse on Secane Drive while the father was on the second floor dealing drugs, Voci said.

When Voci and police arrived at the house, they found a large amount of blood. On a living-room sofa, they found an older-model .357 Smith & Wesson revolver with five live rounds and one spent cartridge casing, he said.

The parents drove the girl to Jefferson-Torresdale Hospital, where she was pronounced dead within a half-hour. She would have turned 5 in June.

“Residents of Philadelphia are required to safely store firearms in households where minors also reside,” Krasner said. Free gun locks are available by mail — no questions asked — by submitting a request to Temple Safety Net at www.templesafetynet.org/request-a-gun-lock.