Page High School graduate Lily Basil (left) was shot dead a day after receiving her diploma and Matthew Roufail (right) has been arrested in connection with her death (Pictures: Williamson County Schools/Franklin Police Department)
A teenage girl was shot dead a day after graduating high school by a boy her same age claiming he thought the AR-15-style rifle was not loaded.
Lily Basil, 18, was killed on Saturday, only a day after she graduated from Page High School in Franklin, Tennessee.
Cops received a 911 call from a person who said he was transporting Basil to a hospital for a gunshot wound on her right shoulder, according to an arrest report obtained by WSMV.
Police dispatchers told the caller to pull over on the side of the road at Murfreesboro Road close to Carothers Parkway for emergency responders to assist.
Lily Basil died from gunshot wounds at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (Picture: X)
Emergency responders rushed Basil to Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, where she was later pronounced dead.
Detectives who went to the site of the shooting at 1417 Hanson Drive identified Matthew Roufail, 18, as a person of interest.
Witnesses said Roufail fled the scene to go to a hospital.
During questioning, Roufail admitted that he shot Basil but said he thought the rifle was unloaded, said police.
Lily Basil graduated from Page High School on Friday evening and was shot dead the next day (Picture: X)
Roufail was arrested and charged with homicide.
The high school’s principal, Dr Katie Hill, shared that Basil had graduated the day before her death.
‘Lily was a light; she was kind, sweet and extremely respectful. Her smile lit up every room she entered. Though she was newer to the Page community, she quickly embraced the Patriot spirit and was a friend to everyone she met,’ stated Hill.
‘Page faculty, staff and students will dearly miss Lily, and we are committed to honoring her memory by sharing her light.
Matthew Roufail has been charged with homicide in connection to Lily Basil’s death (Picture: Franklin Police Department)
Basil’s celebration of life will take place at Rolling Hills Church on Friday, and the high school has invited the community to participate in a sunset memorial for her off campus.
‘Help us honor Lily and celebrate the light she brought to our lives by lighting a candle, a luminary or by turning on a porch light that evening,’ Hill stated.
Basil’s was killed about a year after a 22-year-old Ohio college graduate died hours after receiving his diploma when a car he was working on collapsed on him in a freak accident.
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