A 15-year-old Ohio honor student was fatally shot inside an apartment over the weekend, and an 18-year-old man has now been charged in connection with her death after telling police the gun went off while he was cleaning it.
Symini Rai Moore was killed on Jan. 23 after being shot inside an apartment in Northwood, Ohio, according to local reports. Police later arrested 18-year-old Jakob Heintzelman of Northwood and charged him with reckless homicide.
Officers responded to the apartment late that evening and found Moore suffering from a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lake Township Police Chief Mark Hummer said four people were inside the apartment at the time of the shooting: Moore, Heintzelman, Heintzelman’s girlfriend, and another male. According to police, Heintzelman claimed the firearm discharged accidentally while he was cleaning it.
Moore was a student at Woodmore High School and was described as an honor-roll student deeply involved in school life. According to a GoFundMe created to help her family with funeral and memorial expenses, she participated in cheerleading, basketball, track, volleyball, wrestling, Future Farmers of America, and choir. She also worked at Granny’s Kitchen, a family-owned restaurant in Woodville.
“If you ever met Symini Rai Moore, you remember her smile,” the fundraiser reads. “It was the kind that lit up a room instantly — the kind that made people feel seen, welcomed, and cared for without her ever having to say a word. At just 15 years old, Symini carried a kindness and compassion far beyond her years.”
Her death has sent shockwaves through Woodville, the small Sandusky County community where she attended school and where her family’s restaurant is located.
“The town is shaken,” Moore’s former preschool teacher, Christy Donnell, told The Toledo Blade. “Woodville is a small town, and it is not every day that things like this happen. It’s tragic.”
Donnell, who taught Moore when she was 4 years old, remembered her as gentle, kind, and protective — especially of her younger brother.
“She was a good kid. Very sweet, very kind,” Donnell said. “She always looked out for her little brother. She was just a very well-mannered, wonderful child.”
Online jail records show Heintzelman is being held on a reckless homicide charge. His bond was initially listed at $85,000, though reports say a judge later set it at $75,000 and ordered electronic monitoring if he is released.
According to her family, Moore dreamed of becoming an OB nurse and was eagerly counting down the days until she could get her driver’s permit. She is survived by her mother, Brittany Taylor; sisters Red “Lorealee” and Charlotte; brothers Vincent and Emmanuel; and extended family members. Her father, Jay Moore, died previously.
As of Jan. 26, more than $20,000 had been raised in just two days to support Moore’s grieving family.
Obviously the idiot does not know safety precautions.Shoukd be thoroughly investigated.
Sounds fishy. Who randomly cleans a gun while you are around a group of friends? Whose apartment was this, and why was she hanging out with 18 year-olds?