Suspect: Teen's death was 'all an accident'

CLOVIS – The region's latest homicide was "all an accident," according to the man who confessed to killing 17-year-old schammiel Kirven early Wednesday morning at the Clovis Apartments.

Zyon Williams, 19, told police he was walking with two of his friends at the apartments. Williams had his grandmother's 9mm XD pistol in the waistband of his pants. He told officers he was playing with the pistol as he approached the building where the girl was standing and pointed it at her. That's when the gun went off.

Williams told police he did not intend to shoot schammiel. "It was all an accident," he said, according to court records.

Williams said he ran to his grandmother's apartment and told her what happened.

Authorities said Williams walked into the Clovis Police Department about 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, where he gave a detailed account of the incident.

He's charged with abuse of a child resulting in death and tampering with evidence. He was in the Curry County Adult Detention Center going into the weekend.

"The victim was not an intended victim; she was not a target," Clovis Police Capt. Robert Telles said.  "There was some careless activity. Basic fundamentals in gun safety were not followed."

Police said they knew Williams was a suspect before he turned himself in, thanks to multiple witness interviews, plus tips to the "Tip411" app.

"He was aware we wanted to speak with him," Telles said.

Williams' first appearance in court was Friday in Clovis Magistrate Court where he was bound over to District Court. He continues to be held without bond in the maximum security section of the Curry County Adult Detention Center.

Police said they were dispatched to the Clovis Apartments, 1000 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., about 12:40 a.m. Wednesday to answer a call about a shooting.

On arrival, officers found the teenage girl inside the entryway to one of the apartment buildings. She was on the ground with what appeared to be a gunshot wound.

Clovis fire department EMS personnel were on the scene just as officers began to check on the victim.

Telles said schammiel was transported to Plains Regional Medical Center where she died from her injuries shortly after arrival.

Wednesday's slaying is the seventh this year that Curry-Roosevelt county officials have investigated as homicides.