What happens legally when a 13 year accidentally shoots and kills her brother

[snailslime]

I'm writing a story and a key moment in my protagonist's backstory is when she was thirteen and accidentally shot her twin brother in the head during a hunting trip with their father. I was thinking about having her get sent to some sort of juvenile correction/mental health facility until she turns eighteen, but I wasn't sure if this was accurate to how United States law works regarding these types of situations. Also, would any sort of serious legal repercussions be unrealistic given this would be something that happens within the family, and if so, would it work better if the brother was instead the child of a family friend? Any info would be helpful!

Comments

[full_metal_ox]

Note that the loss of a twin—even from natural causes—is considered such a keen bereavement that there are specialized counseling and support groups for it; here’s a Reddit devoted to accounts from twin (and some further multiple) survivors, who lost their twins for numerous reasons and at numerous stages from prenatal to adulthood:

https://www.reddit.com/r/TwinlessTwins/

The father would also feel that he was responsible. Did he fail to properly train his children about gun safety? Did he fail to supervise them when the accident occurred? He lost a son and his daughter is probably mentally scarred for life. It's devastating.

That assumes that he’s a loving and responsible father, which the OP hasn’t told us as yet. If the son was the Golden Child and the daughter the Scapegoat, this could get really ugly.

Also: are these his only kids, or are there other siblings? Their support or its absence could make a lot of difference for OP’s character.

[voidampersand]

Yeah. I was presuming a functional, loving family, where it would still be devastating. But it could be worse.