6-year-old ‘was smart, funny, silly’; Eutawville child dies in gun accident

The adventurous, loving girl was Brandy Grace Shuler, according to her aunt Shannon Shuler of Eutawville.

“My heart is extremely heavy at having to let the public know what happened,” Ravenell said. “This type of incident, this type of investigation is one of the hardest an investigator will ever do.”

Orangeburg County Sheriff’s investigators were called to a Eutawville residence after a reported shooting around 3:40 p.m. Wednesday.

Investigators learned that a 6-year-old girl had been critically wounded after being shot by another child in the residence, according to a release from the sheriff’s office.

The girl was transported to medical facilities where she later passed after having suffered a single gunshot wound to the upper body.

“We are broken-hearted over this tragic loss of a little princess,” Ravenell said. “We lost something precious this week.”

Shannon Shuler described her niece as, “Incredibly curious. She wanted to know everything we were doing and to try it herself.”

“She was smart, funny, silly and slyly mischievous, in a fun kind of way,” her aunt said.

“She was a really good child and always looked to have fun in whatever she did. She was shy at first but she loved everyone and would take her cue from us in how we interacted with them and would warm up to them fairly quickly,” she noted.

“She was a true daddy’s girl and wanted to be anywhere he was, barring work and school hours. She was her mama’s baby but there was no denying she was her daddy’s girl. She was sweet and loving and loved to laugh,” she added.

Some of Brandy Shuler’s favorite activities included, “doing tumbles and flips, playing with her brothers and swimming in her grandma’s pool. She was a very active little girl,” her aunt said.

She was starting second grade at Vance-Providence Elementary School. Last year, she was an A/B honor roll student there.

“Her favorite color currently was blue. Before that, it was red,” her aunt said.

Among Brandy Shuler’s favorite foods and snacks were, “Salt and vinegar or sour cream and cheese potato chips, chicken tenders and fries, cheese sticks, and pizza and of course CANDY, particularly Sour Patch Kids,” her aunt said.

“She enjoyed watching ‘Spidey and His Amazing Friends,’ ‘Bluey,’ ‘PJ Masks,’ ‘MasterChef Junior’ and ‘Mickey Mouse,’” her aunt said.

“She was always so excited when I’d take them to the library and they’d get to play on the computers or have Lego club,” her aunt said.

“She loved to help me cook and bake. She just about had my recipe for chicken tenders down pat. She helped me bake everyone’s birthday cupcakes for the past two years and anything else I could think to make. If she was here when I started supper, she got their stool and would climb up next to me at the stove. Her eyes would just shine any time I’d ask if she wanted to help cook,” she said.

“She loved going on ‘adventures’ with us, be it to the park or Redbank or the library. We were planning a day trip to Charleston for a kids’ scavenger hunt game and she was excited about that but then the storm started coming in, so we put it off.”

Also, “She loved helping her granny in the yard, watering plants and helping me tend the roses. She enjoyed helping in the greenhouse when we had it up and watching to see when things would start to grow. She liked playing War and Go Fish with her granny and little brother or the ‘Tickle Game’ with all of us. She loved jumping on their trampoline and would often ask us to come watch her newest trick on it. She loved stories and being read to. She loved helping with craft projects and was interested in anything anyone in the family was doing that was new. We tried to give her a variety of things to try to help her learn what she enjoyed,” she said.

Brandy Shuler wanted to be a firefighter, like her mom and dad Stephen and Beth Shuler, when she grew up.

Brandy was named for her mother’s late sister.

“My sister-in-law’s family went through the devastation of losing a child to cystic fibrosis. From conversations with her about her sister, I can tell you that even though they were both very young, they were extremely close and loved each other immensely. It’s always an honor to have a child named for you and shows the love and regard the parent holds for you. I believe the name was chosen not only to honor her sister and their relationship, but in hopes that all of Aunt Brandy’s good qualities, hope for the future and love would come through in our Brandy, which I believe they did and so much more,” she said.

Brandy’s parents are requesting privacy at this time. Funeral arrangements are pending.