A California man is now facing up to four years in prison after one of his daughter’s friends got into his garage and shot himself, dead, with his gun.
According to ABC News, Todd Francis has pled guilty to charges of child endangerment, but the father is devastated by the young boy’s death, and truly feels guilty about it.
He told Diane Sawyer in an interview on 20/20:
“I’m still in shock. I feel horrible about what happened. I do feel accountable. … I thought about him like a son, like another family member.”
Apparently, Francis had no idea about what was going on, as he went out to get groceries when the incident occurred:
“I had groceries in my hand and you know. … It was like every police squad car was in my neighborhood. It just terrified me to think that, you know, somebody could break into my house, with us there, and hold us captive.”
Francis was explainining that he got the gun in the first place because he’d been hearing about a lot of home invasions. While he kept the gun safely away, the prosecutors have argued that it was already loaded when the children discovered it.
Our prayers go out to the victim’s parents, Mr. Francis, and his daughter.
SOURCE: ABC News
