At least 73 kids shot to death by accident in 2018
Justice is haphazard after such tragedies
Children were killed more than once a week last year under similarly tragic circumstances – a loaded gun and an adult’s attention lapse – presenting prosecutors with a vexing question: Who is to blame, and how should that person be punished?
At least 73 children under 12 were killed last year, roughly the same pace as the previous five years. What happened next varied widely.
A 2017 USA TODAY and Associated Press investigation of the 152 deaths from 2014 to 2016 found about half ended in a criminal charge, usually of adults who police said should have watched children more closely or secured their guns more carefully.
Justice is haphazard after kids’ gun deaths in U.S. Nearly identical cases then and in 2018 had markedly different outcomes.
A grandfather was charged in Virginia, a father was charged in Georgia, and an uncle was charged in Missouri – all with variations on criminal negligence. But elsewhere in Virginia, prosecutors declined to charge parents after two incidents that left 2-year-olds dead on the same day in May.
Felons are the only consistent exception. Because it’s illegal for anyone convicted of a felony to possess a gun, almost every felon involved in an accidental gun death faces criminal charges.
Toddler Montreal Dunn found a gun and shot himself in the head in Louisville, Kentucky, in August. The 2-yearold was rushed to the hospital in a police cruiser, but he died.
In the aftermath, legislators pushed for tougher gun storage laws, and Gov. Matt Bevin said, “Parents should be held accountable in large measure for ensuring their children are safe.” Police are still investigating, but no charges have been filed.
Two weeks later, a Maryland 2-yearold found a handgun and fatally shot himself. Tyree Flint had discovered the gun in a bedroom while others people in the home were sleeping. Prosecutors charged a 25-year-old house guest, who owned the gun, with involuntary manslaughter. He could face more than 10 years in prison when he goes on trial next month.
Sometimes the felony prosecution is more important than prison for an already grieving parent, said Molly Chilson, a district attorney in Salida, Colorado, 150 miles southwest of Denver.
Chilson got the call in 2016 when a 2year-old pulled down a loaded shotgun from a towel rack and shot himself. After inspecting the awful scene and interviewing siblings, she had to decide: How to handle Jason Belmont, 45, a former Colorado sheriff ’s deputy who owned the gun, and his girlfriend, Stefanie Wray, 30, the boy’s mother?
“This case was different because the evidence showed these two defendants put a loaded shotgun in a child’s play area,” Chilson said. She charged the couple with felony child abuse causing death. She sought prison time for Wray because she was home at the time of the shooting and probation for Belmont. Last month, a judge sentenced them both to four years’ probation and 90 days in jail.
“It was necessary to obtain felony convictions so neither can have firearms in the home again,” Chilson said.