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18-year-old on life support after sister accidentally shoots her in face, police say

Dre’Naya Ponder injured; Taniyria Holt, 24, of Atlanta, arrested

Taniyria Akias Holt. (Miami-Dade Corrections & Rehabilitation)

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A Georgia woman visiting South Florida accidentally shot her teenage sister in the face while handing her a gun inside a car, police said.

The shooting occurred Sunday night on a Miami Beach road, the Miami Herald reported. Taniyria Holt, 24, of Atlanta, has been arrested and charged with culpable negligence that inflicts personal injury and improper exhibition of firearms.

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The victim, identified by an arrest report as 18-year-old Dre’Naya Ponder, remained on life support Monday.

According to the arrest report, Holt told detectives she, her sister and two other women were recording video of themselves with cellphones inside the 2019 Jaguar while Holt handled a 9mm handgun owned by one of the other women. Holt said she racked the firearm and watched a live round eject. Believing the gun was unloaded, she said he handed it to her sister, but the gun fired and hit Ponder.

Holt was being held without bond. Jail records did not list an attorney.