ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Words can't explain the pain a family and young mother feels after a 2-year-old boy was shot and killed at a St. Petersburg home Sunday.
Speaking exclusively to 10 Tampa Bay's Angelina Salcedo, Makayla Steele says she is lost without her son, Armani Creary.
"I don't even know what to say," she said. "He just turned 2, I'm just empty. That was my little boy. He was everything."
Creary was a twin, always hand-in-hand with his sister, Aubrianna. The two were born on Easter Sunday back in 2021.
Steele says she had just gotten back from a Memorial Day trip when she got a call that she needed to go to the hospital for her kids. She said she wasn't told what was going on or what happened, but she immediately knew something was wrong.
"When I got there they explained to me that my son was going through surgery. I was like what do you mean? I couldn't believe it," Steele explained. "The security guard at the hospital was the one who told me things weren't looking good. That's when I really knew it was serious."
St. Petersburg police arrested 22-year-old Aaron Creary, the twin's father. He's charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and violation of probation after investigators say a gun he pulled during an argument at his home last night was fired and the gunfire hit his son.
When asked what happened, Makalaya said the argument was between Aaron's parents and was getting physical. She said Aaron tried to break it up and the gun was fired in the process.
"It was an accident. He would never put his kids in harm's way," Steele said. "Especially not his son! That was his twin."
She's still in shock, but doesn't fault the father of her children.
"I just ask everyone to give my and my family privacy and respect me as a mother," she said. "We're just trying to process all of this, I just lost my son."
There is a lot that police are trying to piece together in this investigation.
Aaron Creary made his first appearance in court Monday morning and is being held on a $750,000 bond.
Police said Aaron Creary tried to take Armani to the hospital after the shooting. According to them, he crashed his car in the parking lot of a business at the corner of 15th Avenue South and 34th Street and never made it there. Armani was then transported to the hospital from that crash scene.