Wilkins Township, Pennsylvania — Tragedy struck early Monday when 17-year-old Ni’Dreyah Marshall, a senior at Woodland Hills High School, was killed by a gunshot wound inside an apartment she was visiting in the Brentmoor at Penn Center complex. Police say the fatal shot appears to have been the result of mishandling a firearm during a gathering with friends late Sunday night.
According to authorities, 20-year-old Rayohna Hexstall was in the apartment with Ni’Dreyah and two other adults when she began waving a handgun that belonged to one of the others present. As the group socialized, witnesses reported Hexstall handling the weapon, and at one point the gun accidentally discharged. The bullet struck Ni’Dreyah in the head, and despite efforts by those inside to help, she was found unresponsive and later pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told police that Hexstall initially tried to claim someone else had been holding the gun when it fired. But multiple people in the room said they saw Hexstall with the weapon at the time it discharged. Police arrested Hexstall and charged her with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. A judge refused to grant bail, leaving her in custody at the county jail as the case proceeds.
Neighbors described the scene as chaotic in the hours after the shooting, with flashing police lights and investigators canvassing the apartment complex. Some residents spoke of disbelief, saying they had seen Ni’Dreyah around the building and could hardly imagine how a casual night among acquaintances ended in such a grim loss.
The Woodland Hills School District confirmed that Ni’Dreyah was a student in good standing and said the community was grieving. School officials said they were offering counseling and support to students and staff struggling with the news. They asked for privacy for the grieving family but emphasized the importance of supporting young people through the shock of losing a classmate.
Family members described Ni’Dreyah as a young woman full of life, whose plans for the future were cut short in an instant. Friends recalled moments they shared with her — quick laughs in hallways, conversations about school, and dreams for after graduation. Those memories now mingle with profound sadness.
Officials noted that alcohol and marijuana were present at the gathering, and that Hexstall’s one-year-old child had been in the apartment during the incident, though not harmed. As the legal process unfolds, the community continues to reflect on how a single moment of careless handling of a gun can have irreversible consequences.
Authorities encourage anyone with information about the case to reach out to local police. In the meantime, classmates and neighbors mourn a promising young life lost too soon.
