A 15-year-old boy fatally shot earlier this month was accidentally killed when his friend tried to unload a handgun inside a minivan in which juveniles had been joyriding all night.

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin addressed the deadly shooting in the city council meeting Tuesday, imploring parents and guardians know where their children are, and what they’re doing.

“This is sad. This is tragic,’’ Woodfin said. “Just speaking directly to our parents, it’s extremely important to know where your child is, to know who they are with, and to know what’s in the vehicle.”

Prentice Lovell Little, an Adamsville teen who attended Minor High School, was killed July 7 on the city’s eastside.

Just before 7 a.m. that Sunday, South Precinct officers were dispatched to a report of a person who showed up at UAB Hospital with a gunshot wound.

Once at the hospital, they learned that a minivan arrived at the emergency room with Prentice inside. He was pronounced dead at the hospital at 8:28 a.m.

Police learned the shooting took place in the 9200 block of Parkway East, between Walmart and Wells Fargo, near a small strip of businesses.

Authorities previously said they believed the “mishandling” of the gun led to Prentice’s death.

Woodfin on Tuesday said the group of five teens – one 18-year-old and the rest under the age of 17 – had been driving around all night “into the wee hours of the morning, literally about 6:30 in the morning, and found themselves on the eastern side of town.”

As they pulled into the parking, a 14-year-old was trying to clear a Glock handgun inside the minivan when it discharged and killed Prentice.

All of those inside the car were friends or family, the mayor said.

The 14-year-old was taken into the custody of the youth detention facility.

The Jefferson County Coroner’s Office ruled the death a homicide – which means one person died at the hands of another – though Woodfin said the deadly shooting was accident.

“It wasn’t an actual homicide, it was criminally negligent homicide,’’ Woodfin said.

The mayor said he spoke with the parents of those involved.

“In speaking with the parents, they did not know where these children were, they didn’t know they had been riding around all night, they didn’t know they were riding around until the sun came up,’’ he said. “They were unaware of a pistol being in the car and they found out the tragic news that one of them had been killed.”

“I implore our parents in this community, I implore a person that takes on a parental role in this community, to always know where your child, children are,’’ Woodfin said.

“Government cannot be everywhere. We can’t be in every vehicle,’’ he said. “That’s not a realistic expectation.”

“This is tragic,’’ he said.

“One child lost his life, and another child has to be held accountable, but the ripple that sends for all the boys in that car within itself — I don’t know the emotional toll of that and what they have to live with the rest of their lives.”