Probe continues into fatal shooting of 3-year-old boy

CHESTER TOWNSHIP » Authorities are continuing to investigate the death of a 3-year-old boy whose family told police he accidentally shot himself inside their township home Saturday afternoon.

According to the Delaware County Medical Examiner’s office, Stephen L. Williams Jr. died of a perforating gunshot wound to the chest, though the manner of death remains pending. A complete autopsy was conducted, according to the official “Findings of the Medical Examiner” document, signed by Medical Examiner Dr. Fredric N. Hellman.

Chester Township Police Chief Ken Coalson said Tuesday that investigators have not completed interviews with two older siblings, ages 5 and 8, who were at home at the time, as well as with their mother who was so traumatized by the shooting that she was hospitalized Saturday for evaluation.

Police and first responders were called to the 2900 block of Bethel Road for a gunshot victim just after 3 p.m. Saturday. Coalson previously said the boy was found with a bullet wound to his chest and that the bullet had gone through him and lodged in a wall, where it was recovered. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

“We are being told the 3-yearold grabbed the gun,” Coalson previously said, adding that a self-inflicted wound is among the scenarios under investigation.

The gun, a 9mm pistol, was in a room on the second floor.

Detective Sgt. Merritt Harman and Detective Patrick Mullen are leading the ongoing investigation, with assistance from the Delaware County Criminal Investigation Division.