Florida Teen Brothers Get Into Gun Battle Over Christmas Presents, Sister Killed While Holding Baby

Two teenage brothers in a "family spat" on Christmas Eve over the gifts their mother was buying for them led to a gun battle at the family home — and the death of their older sister, while she was holding her 10-month-old baby, police in Florida said.

The tragic events unfolded Sunday afternoon as the brothers, identified by Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri as Damarcus Coley, 14, and Darcus Coley, 15, began arguing while the family was at a store Christmas shopping.

The sheriff said Darcus Coley was "jealous" that his mother was buying more presents for his younger brother than him, a squabble that continued after they left the store. 

"They had this family spat about who was getting what and what money was being spent on who. They're having this big thing going on in the store," the sheriff said in a news conference on Tuesday. 

The family — including the mother, the brothers, their 23-year-old sister Abrielle Baldwin and her 10-month-old and 6-year-old sons — then went to the grandmother's house in Largo, near Clearwater. 

At the home, the 14-year-old brother pulled out a .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun and threatened to shoot his older sibling in the head. 

An uncle separated them and took Damarcus outside. 

He was standing with Abrielle, who was holding her baby in a carrier, in the driveway, when she scolded him. 

"You all need to leave that stuff alone. Why you tryin' to start it, it's Christmas," Gualtieri recounted Baldwin saying. 

Damarcus then began arguing with his sister, using some "very, very derogatory language ... and all kinds of profanities," Gualtieri said.

"He stated that he was going to shoot her and that he was going to quote shoot the baby, too," the sheriff said.

Damarcus then shot his sister in the chest, "while she's carrying the baby," he said. 

At that time the older boy came out of the house and "tells Damarcus, 'you shot my MF sister'" and blasted his brother in the stomach with his own  .45-caliber pistol, Gualtieri said.

Darcus tossed his gun and fled to a relative's house in Clearwater, where he was arrested and charged with attempted first-degree murder. 

Damarcus is in stable condition at a local hospital. He will be taken into custody after his release, the sheriff said. 

He has been charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and being a delinquent in possession of a firearm.

The State Attorney’s Office will review the case and decide if either or both brothers will be charged as an adult.