Mother is charged with murder after her son, 10, shoots dead a teenage neighbour in a loud-music row

The boy's mother, whose name has not been released in sources, told her son to fetch the gun during a dispute with 16-year-old neighbour over noise, New Mexico prosecutors allege. The girl was shot dead at the scene; the mother now faces a murder charge alongside other counts related to the shooting.

The boy, aged 10, fired the fatal shot but his mother is held criminally responsible for directing him to retrieve the weapon.

Prosecutors in New Mexico brought the murder charge against the mother after determining she allegedly orchestrated the deadly sequence of events.

The case has reignited calls across the US for stricter laws on child access to firearms.