48°
Faith Youngling knew the gun was loaded, they noted -- however, they aren't convinced that she intentionally shot herself.
According to responders, Youngling clearly had been intoxicated when Kenneth Pinte, 21, claimed he gave her the weapon and told her the safety was on.
Investigators, in turn, charged him with reckless manslaughter, hindering and weapons charges in connection with Youngling's death.
Pinte, who neighbors said lives in the Pleasant Avenue home with his father and grandfather, illegally bought the 12-gauge shotgun, Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella said Sunday night.
Although other media reports assumed suicide, Musella never used the word.
An autopsy "determined that the injuries were self-inflicted," the prosecutor said.
Youngling -- who'd more recently been living with her father in West New York -- was sitting on the edge of a bed when she was killed instantly by the shotgun blast shortly before midnight Saturday, responders said.
Youngling knew the gun was loaded "and it was likely accidental," a high-ranking law enforcement official told Daily Voice on Monday.
That's because she apparently believed the safety was on.
Pinte initially said he wasn't in the room at the time but then admitted to being there after blood spatter was found on his clothing.
He remained held in the Bergen County Jail pending a first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.
Youngling, who grew up in Cliffside Park and briefly lived in Fairview, moved in with her father in West New York last year, a close family friend told Daily Voice.
Her mother "is devastated, like all of us," the friend said. "It's just so sad.
"She was a good girl -- never been in trouble or arrested," the friend added. "But she hung out with a bad crowd."
Residents in the Paramus neighborhood called the Pleasant Avenue home a trouble spot.
"There's a history with that house," one neighbor said. "Police have been there many times. We have complained and complained about what was happening there."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Ridgewood and receive free news updates.
