Florida woman charged with manslaughter on Monday after her 2-year-old boy found a gun in them home and accidentally shot him father in in back, killing him, authorities said.
father26 year old Reggie Mabry was playing video game in them home in Orlando, Florida last month when one of its three children managed to grab a Glock 19 and fire, according to arrest report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office.
Mr Mabry and his wife Marie Ayala, 28, were convicted of felony charges and were not legally allowed to own guns, Sheriff John Mina. of Orange County announced this on news conference on Monday. They were on probation for he said.
Ms Ayala was charged with manslaughter, criminal negligence and possession of firearms offender, authorities said. She could face up up to 15 years in prison if convicted of manslaughter.
” gun not stored properly,” Sheriff Mina said. “In facton was easily accessible even for 2-year-old, and result is a tragedy.”
it wasn’t exactly clear how The child was able to receive the gun, authorities said.
The allegations came at a time when gun controls are offered at the federal level and nationwide in commemoration of mass shootings and gun safety machine tools in minds of Americans are tired of violence. Random killing of Mr Mabry also highlights the unintentional violence that can result from lung access to arms in America, supporters of gun control say.
Last year163 people in US children were unintentionally shot dead, according to Everytown for Weapon safety, and gun-control group. So far this year, according to the department, there have been 46 such deaths. organization.
“This is an exclusively American crisis when children can easily access unprotected loaded firearms and injure yourself or others.” – Shannon Watts, Founder of Moms demand action, said on the phone on Monday.
These types of shooting, she added rooted in “negligence on the part of gun owners.”
May 26, when the authorities in Orlando replied to a message of shooting at home on stalemate, investigators initially thought they were dealing with a death on suicide, arrest says in the report.
But then Ms. Ayala told them that it was their baby. who fired the gun, Sheriff Mina said. family heard a “loud bang” that prompted Ms. Ayala up out of bed and find her husband bleeding on in floor, the message says. She disarmed gun and started chest compressions on Mr Mabry, according to the report.
Then, as her husband was taken to the hospital, she asked her 5-year-old child how 2-year-old managed to “get” the gun but the child couldn’t explain how he received gun and replied that his younger brother just “shot dad” arrest says in the report.
When investigators asked Ms. Ayala where they kept gun”her answers changed often”, i.e. arrest the report says: First she said in purple bag that was kept on in the floor it was in coupe and then what it was in a box in closet or in the safe which was broken at the time.
“She couldn’t explain how in gun fell out of bag, with high capacity magazine inserted in it, cut off and zipped all the time,” the report says.
Ms Ayala later admitted to the authorities that “any child in the room could think out how To obtain gun out of bag,” the statement said.
“Gun owners who do not secure their firearms properly, just one split second away from one of these tragedies happen in them homesSheriff Mina said.
in Congress gun proposals for control are considered at the insistence of President Biden, who acknowledged the political realities that might have forced him just another president fail to get action on guns.
One of bills in the House of Representatives of Representatives will impose fines for people who fail ensure gun. This will only apply to households where the minor is “likely to receive accessor when a person is prohibited from owning gun life.
James Alan Fox, professor of of criminology at Northeastern University, said that while the legislation might help, he doubted it was much reduce these types of lethal outcomes.
“If a child catches of a gun they go kill yourself or you or another family member, he said. “And if that’s not enough, then everything the prosecutor does won’t change anything.”
During the pandemic, unintentional death from shooting children has increased becausemore the children were in home with unprotected weapons,” Ms Watts said. Everytown for According to Gun Safety, in 2022, 4.6 million children live in a home with least one gun which is not stored securely.
Sheriff Mina spoke about the tragedy in Orlando was “100 percent preventable” and led to in three children effectively losing both parents.
“Them father is dead. Them mother is in jail,” he said. “And young child should live their lives knowing that he shot him father”.
