Jayla Miller died Tuesday night at a Chicago hospital after she was shot in the head earlier that evening at a residence in the 1700 block of Polk Street, police said.

Dashana Mattica Fowler, 22, of Gary, was charged Thursday with one count of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, a level 1 felony, and three counts of neglect of a dependent, a level 6 felony, court records show.

“This unfortunate incident involved an innocent young child and could have been easily avoided by keeping firearms away from children,” Commander Jack Hamady of Gary police, said in a release.

Hamady added, “Firearms are not toys and should always be considered loaded and secured away from children. Firearm safety and education is paramount.”

On Tuesday, Fowler’s boyfriend said he went with a man he rented a room from “to the store to purchase food for everyone” and to a gas station, a probable cause affidavit states.

When he returned to the house on Polk Street, he “yelled for Dashana to come open the door,” the affidavit states. As Fowler and her boyfriend were talking, they “heard a pop,” according to the affidavit. The boyfriend “pushed Dashana out of the way and went to the bedroom” where he saw Miller, the affidavit states.

Fowler, who her boyfriend described as “sort of out of it,” said she “saw her baby injured” and “ran out of the house and started telling people to call the police,” the affidavit states. Court records state that Fowler’s son “was screaming, ‘My sister, my sister!’”

Police arrived at the house after receiving a 911 call at 6:51 p.m., police said. An officer saw Miller in the bedroom with blood on blankets and pillows, the affidavit states. A black and gray semiautomatic handgun was on the bed, according to the affidavit.

Police also saw what looked like crack cocaine and “a razor blade commonly used for cutting crack cocaine” in “plain view” on a dresser in the bedroom, the affidavit states.

The boyfriend denied knowing anything about the drugs or the gun at the house, according to the affidavit. Fowler told police she had previously seen the gun on a table in the living room and “knew (the boyfriend) had drugs around while her and her kids visited,” the affidavit states.

Fowler’s son said that he was sleeping on the bed when “Jayla reached under the pillow, grabbed the gun and shot herself in the head,” the affidavit states. The boy said “his mom told them the gun was a BB gun” and that he had seen her boyfriend with a gun before, according to the affidavit.

“I do not believe that Jayla shot herself,” a detective wrote in the affidavit.

Miller did not have stippling on her forehead, which meant that the barrel of the gun “had to be at least two to three feet away,” the affidavit states. The gunshot wound to Miller’s forehead was “perfectly centered,” according to the affidavit.

It also would have been difficult for a 2-year-old child to pull the trigger of the gun, which was a .32 caliber Kel-Tec, the affidavit states.

Fowler is being held at the Lake County Jail, the release states. An attorney and court date were not listed for Fowler in court records as of Thursday afternoon.

The level 1 felony that Fowler faces, neglect of a dependent resulting in death, carries a prison sentence of 20 to 40 years. The same charge has been filed in the deaths of at least 10 other children in Lake and Porter counties over the last two years.

Fowler’s boyfriend was not charged “at this time,” Hamady said.

Three other children besides Miller were also at the house during the shooting, resulting in the three additional neglect charges, according to Hamady.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call Detective Alex Jones with the Gary/Lake County Metro Homicide Unit at 219-755-3855 or the crime tip line at 866-274-6347.