Friday, May 18, 2012

Accidental Shooting of Toddler by 14-Year-old Uncle - The Kid's Dead

The News-Gazette reports

State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said the youth had taken the magazine out of the .25-caliber handgun that he had stolen in February from a Rantoul drug dealer’s home but apparently didn’t realize it was still loaded.

Rietz said the teen told Urbana police that Mekhi had been playing with the gun, which the teen kept in his room.

“He pointed it at the child and pulled the trigger, wanting to scare him and teach him about gun safety, not knowing there was a round in the chamber,” she said.

Rietz said after the round hit the toddler in the forehead, the teen scooped the child up and ran outdoors with him, handing his limp body to a young female friend he knew from school.

Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Kanis told Ladd in court that the child was still breathing, although the breathing was labored and the child had an obvious open wound to the forehead.

When the first officer arrived, the girl handed the wounded boy to him. At the same time, the teen was outside still holding the gun and yelling hysterically that he had shot his nephew and was going to shoot himself, Kanis said.
Where was the parental supervision in this horror story? That's what I want to know.

What's your opinion?  Please leave a comment.

4 comments:

  1. Don't you want to know more? Don't you want to know why this teenager was in a drug dealer's house at some point? Don't you want to know how the drug dealer could have a gun in Illinois? Don't you want to know why the strict gun control of that state failed?

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  2. Let's see
    1. 14 year old in possession of a handgun = illegal
    2. stolen handgun = illegal
    3. from a drug dealer = illegal
    so Mike is this another of your supposed "hidden criminals"? Cause this guy wasn't even close to a law abiding gun owner. This thug is a criminal from the start. What law could you possible suggest to prevent this from happening? He already broke 3 laws before he ever pointed it at his nephew. Let me guess you want to blame the person this gun was stolen from? Because it is somehow their fault a criminal broke the law and stole from them? But registration is supposed to prevent this. Isn't that what you keep telling us? Illinois has FOID already and it FAILED to prevent this crime.

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    Replies
    1. Some crimes cannot be prevented. But, when minors are involved, especially very young children, I want to bring the parents or guardians into it.

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    2. But that's not the subject of this blog, as you often tell us. On this point, we agree. There's likely to be a screw up with the parents in this story.

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