- Lily Basil, a Tennessee high school graduate, was accidentally shot to death
- Matthew Roufail, 18, believed his AR-15-style rifle was unloaded
- Roufail was charged with criminal homicide and released on $150,000 bail.
A teenage girl who had just graduated from high school was accidentally shot and killed by an 18-year-old classmate after the shooter believed her AR-15-style rifle was unloaded.
Lily Basil had just graduated from Page High School in Franklin, Tennessee, when she was killed by 18-year-old Matthew Roufail, who admitted to the shooting.
Roufail was charged with criminal homicide and his bond was set at $150,000.
Roufail told police he shot Basil with a .22-caliber rifle, but it was unintentional. The gun was recovered from the trunk of a vehicle where Basil and Roufail had met.
Lily Basil, 18, a Tennessee high school graduate, was accidentally shot and killed Saturday.
Matthew Roufail, 18, believed his AR-15 style rifle was unloaded at the time.
The tragedy occurred on Saturday. After the shooting, Basil was rushed to the hospital with a gunshot wound to her right shoulder.
She was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.
The high school she attended now offers grief counseling sessions for students.
‘The Page High family mourns the loss of Lily Basil, graduate of 2024. Lily was a light; she was kind, sweet and extremely respectful. “Her smile lit up every room she walked into,” Page High School Principal Dr. Katie Hill wrote in a statement.
Lily Basil is seen with some of her relatives
Lily had just graduated from Page High School in Franklin, Tennessee, on Friday.
Lily was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, where she later died from her injuries.
‘Although she was new to the Page community, she quickly embraced the Patriot spirit and was a friend to everyone she met. Lily will be greatly missed by Page faculty, staff, and students and we are committed to honoring her memory by sharing her light.”
School leaders said the community plans to honor the teen by lighting a candle or turning on a porch light Friday night.
Community members, like Lisa Welsh, are already planning to get involved.
‘We are honoring her and just the light that she had within herself and what she could have shared with the rest of the world. Also, her family and friends, who have been eliminated,” Welsh told News channel5.
Friends Sophia Debruler and Avery Jett, both left, paid tribute to Lily Basil online, right.
School leaders said the community plans to honor Lily by lighting a candle in her memory or turning on the porch light on Friday night.
Friends paid tribute to their friend on social media.
‘Lily, thank you for becoming one of our best friends these past two years. We are honored to have met you, you have brought us so many laughter and memories that we will treasure forever. “You are deeply loved and missed, fly high pookie,” Sophia Debruler wrote.
‘My love for you Lily will always be dear to my heart. “Beautiful memories were made to last a lifetime,” added Dena Sherman-Truhn.