A Florida woman, Marie Ayala has been charged with manslaughter after her 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father after they left a loaded gun unattended.
The victim, Reggie Mabry, was playing a video game in their home last month when one of his three children grabbed the weapon and fired, according to an arrest report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
When police officers, alerted by a 911 call, arrived at the victim’s home near Orlando on May 26, they found the child’s mother providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry, AFP reports.
According to the report, law enforcement officials initially believed the 26-year-old, who died shortly afterwards in hospital, had shot himself.
However, the eldest of the couple’s three children told investigators that the trigger was pulled by his two-year-old brother, Orange County Sheriff John Mina said at a news conference.
The gun was in a bag that Mabry had left on the ground and the child came across it and shot his father in the back.
The five family members, including a five-month-old girl, were in the same room at the time of the incident.
Meanwhile, both parents were on parole at the time after multiple offences of child neglect and drug use, the sheriff said. They were convicted felons and were not allowed by law to own guns.
Ayala was charged with manslaughter, culpable negligence and possession of a firearm by a felon, the authorities said. She could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.
“Gun owners that do not properly secure their firearms are just one split second away from one of these tragedies happening in their homes,” Mina said.
“Now these young children have effectively lost both of their parents. Their father is dead. Their mother is in jail, and a young child has to live their life knowing that he shot his father,” the sheriff added.