An inquisitive 5-year-old boy named Carlin McDaniel found a loaded gun in his uncle’s apartment in Detroit and accidentally shot himself in the head. The boy succumbed to his wound after being taken to the hospital.
The uncle, 29-year-old Keon Pritchett, has been charged with five felonies. He is already a felon, and one of the charges is being a felon in possession of a firearm. Detroit police say Pritchett tried to dispose of the weapon before they got there, adding another charge of tampering with evidence.
In total, 50 children have been shot in Detroit similarly by finding unsecured guns in the home this year.
“Another child shot. Another few hours of temporary outrage. Another opportunity for meaningful reform ignored,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.
“How many more times will it take for the outrage to be lasting and meaningful? Someone, please let me know. Can we at least get some action on the unsafe storage of guns? I have been asking for more than six years now.”
The city of Detroit offers to bring gun locks to gun owners to prevent such situations.
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