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Alexis Wallace, 15

Alexis Wallace, a 15-year-old black girl, died Sunday, May 23, in the 1800 block of Wellington Road in Mid-City, according to Los Angeles County coroner's records.

Police and paramedics responded to a reported shooting about 5:45 p.m. When paramedics arrived, they found Alexis with a gunshot wound to her back, authorities said.

Alexis was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead at 7:33 p.m., according to coroner's records.

Sources familiar with the case said Alexis and a teenage boy may have been playing Russian roulette with a pistol but that the boy, who was holding the gun, believed he had taken the bullets out.

When Alexis had gotten up to leave, the boy pointed the gun at her and pressed the trigger, not realizing that a round was still in the chamber, authorities said.

Police said it was not immediately clear if the weapon was a semiautomatic handgun or a revolver, the gun most associated with Russian roulette, in which players spin the chamber and then pull the trigger with the muzzle of the gun pointed at their heads.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Sarah Ardalani

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