An 11-year-old North Carolina girl accidentally killed stepfather Bryan Reno, left, with a pistol while her mother, Pamela Reno, right, slept.

An 11-year-old North Carolina girl accidentally killed her stepfather with the man’s new handgun, police said.

Bryan Reno wanted to show the girl his .380-caliber pistol but forgot to remove all the bullets — a mistake that turned fatal when the girl pulled the trigger.

Reno, 19, was hit once in the chest.

Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman said the deadly combination of a child and a gun “could have been prevented” but Reno wanted the girl to see the weapon.

“Tragedy struck,” Norman told the Shelby Star.

Reno bought the gun from a friend earlier on Friday, and brought it back to the Mooresboro home he shared with 35-year-old wife Pamela Reno and her daughters, Norman said.

Pamela Reno was asleep when her husband decided to show off his new gun. He removed the clip before he handed the pistol to the 11-year-old, apparently forgetting the bullet in the chamber.

The gun went off in the girl’s hand.

Emergency workers responded about 10:45 p.m. to the family’s trailer, about 50 miles west of Charlotte. Reno died there.

The sheriff didn’t expect to file any charges against the stepdaughter.

He listed her among the tragedy’s victims, including law enforcement and medical personnel who dealt with the aftermath.

“There’s going to be some trying days for her,” he said. “But we did have two of our chaplains on scene last night for her and for the rest of the family members.”

Pamela Reno described her husband as a devoted parent to her girls.

“He would do anything for anyone,” she told the paper. “He was helping me raise my two daughters.”

Bryan Reno and his wife were married less than a year.