A Tampa, FL toddler is now dead after accidentally shooting himseld with his Uncle’s gun.
Jadarrius Speights, 3, was inside the bedroom of an apartment he shared with his Mother, Father, and Uncle when he found the 9mm gun. His Uncle, 29-year-old Jeffrey Walker, left the gun in the room he shared with the toddler, where he found it in a backpack. Walker purchased the gun at a gun shop in the Tampa Bay area and also had a concealed weapons permit.
Jadarrius shot himself and now, Walker (pictured above) is being charged with culpable negligence, which is a third degree felony.
Tragically, the child’s parents, 21-year-old Jasmine Bell and 22-year-old Trentin Speights, were in their bedroom at the time of the shooting.
What’s even more suprising is the amount of time it took for the paramedics to arrive at the Avesta Apartment complex where the incident occured.
According to WTSP:
Cierra Brown said, “Actually, the father, he’s a friend of mine. The father of the child. So I called. When I seen, I called the ambulance because I saw all these police and I’m, like, where is the ambulance? The ambulance is supposed to be here first.”
Jackie Jackson said she timed the whole thing starting at 7:10 p.m. when people started running away from the apartment where the shooting happened. She said, “About one minute later, you got about nine loads of sheriff’s department just running through the scene … and then 13 minutes later, 7:23, here come the paramedics … and then they don’t come right here.”
Brown added, “They took too long and they’re right around the corner.”
This is the latest in a string of shootings involving a toddler or child that has been kiiled unintentionally with a firearm belonging to an adult, in one case, a 5-year-old (his parents bought him a gun, but were not charged with negligence).
Our prayers and thoughts are with Jadarrius’ family at this time. May he rest in peace.
SOURCE: WTSP
