Teen charged after shooting death of woman outside Superstition Springs Mall

A minor is in custody and charged with four felonies after the death of a woman who was shot in a vehicle outside a mall in Mesa, according to police Monday afternoon.

Mesa police officers responded just before 2 p.m. to the entrance of Superstition Springs Mall after a call about a woman being shot through a car's front windshield, police said. Officers arrived and found evidence that a gun had been fired from inside the vehicle that Elena Hernandez, 20, was in, according to police.

Officers spoke to a 16-year-old male and learned he accidentally pulled a handgun's trigger while “playing” with it in the vehicle's back seat. The bullet pierced through the back of the front passenger seat and struck Hernandez, police said.

Hernandez was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, according to police.

The teen hid the gun in a bush close to the car, according to Mesa Police Det. Brandi George. Police believe Hernandez and the teen were friends, George said. A third person was in the driver's seat, an 18-year-old, but they were not hurt or implicated in the shooting, Monday afternoon.

It is unclear whether the teen knew the handgun was loaded when he handled it and whether the car was in motion when the incident occurred.

The unidentified teen was booked into the Durango Juvenile Detention Center charged on suspicion of second-class felony manslaughter, according to police. He was also charged on suspicion of being a minor in a possession of a firearm, tampering with physical evidence and unlawful discharge of a firearm, all sixth-class felonies, police said.

Reach breaking news reporter Jose R. Gonzalez at jose.gonzalez@gannett.com or on Twitter @jrgzztx.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Teen charged in shooting death of woman outside Mesa mall