Malachi Hemphill, 13, was recording himself in his bedroom on Monday evening when the tragedy occurred.
He reportedly started handling a gun, while his pals watched and sent him messages via the social media site. friends.
But as he "tried to put a clip in" the weapon, it suddenly went off, causing him to fall to the ground in a pool of blood.
She said she and her daughter kicked in the teen's door and found him lying on the floor, surrounded by blood.A devastated Shaniqua told WXIA news station .
"My daughter screamed and said, ‘Mom, turn his phone off!',"Detectives investigating the horrifying incident are trying to work out where the gun came from, WXIA reports.
"As I proceeded to look at his phone, he was on Instagram Live."