Two years is accidentally shot by his cousin, four

A grandfather in California was arrested a few hours after his two-year-old granddaughter was fatally injured in the chest by his cousin after a pistol had been left unattended at home.

The two-year-old identified only as Alia, was killed Friday morning at her home in Muscoy after her four-year-old cousin caught a rifle that he found and accidentally found drawn.

Neighbors told KTLA that they heard several people in the house scream 910 minutes after the little girl was hit by the bullet, Daily Mail reports.

Police arrested César Lopez, the 53-year-old victim's grandfather, on Friday charging him with a child in danger and being a criminal in possession

Authorities said Lopez had left his weapon in an area to which the children had access. Because he's a convicted felon, Lopez was not even allowed to have a weapon.

Bubba McBath, who lives in the area, said she saw Alia being taken in an ambulance. Officials said the girl died in the hospital, less than an hour after being shot in the chest.

The investigators said that the children were cousins ​​and that they lived in the same house with their mother

. The neighbors said that the boy was crying when the deputies took him in a sheriff's vehicle

"It was his only daughter," said neighbor Citlaoy Plascencia at NBC Los Angeles. "She was a good mother."

Another neighbor told San Bernardino Sun that the tragedy could have been avoided.

"It's negligence here," said Dantra Lewis. "I know these people are in pain, but a four-year-old should not know where a firearm is kept, let alone access it."