Mother charged in aftermath of shooting that killed 6-year-old Detroit girl
By Paula Wethington
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Detroit (WWJ) — A mother has been charged in connection with Monday’s fatal accidental shooting of a 6-year-old in a shopping center parking lot.
“The alleged facts of this case are among the worst child safe storage cases that we have seen,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said.
Tonya Charisse-Annice Johnson, 41, of Detroit, has been charged with firearms – safe storage violation, three counts of second-degree child abuse and four counts of felony firearm, the prosecutor’s office said. Arraignment is scheduled for Thursday afternoon at the 36th District Court in Detroit.
The victim, a 6-year-old girl, was one of Johnson’s children, authorities said.
The accidental fatal shooting happened about 12:06 p.m. Monday in a parking lot in the 9700 block of Harper Avenue. Johnson had left her five children, ages 2 to 11, in the vehicle while she walked to a restaurant in the shopping center.
Prosecutors said the 11-year-old boy found an unsecured handgun in the vehicle and fired it, striking the 6-year-old in the head.
Medics took the girl to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
“This will affect these children forever. The loss of the life of one of their siblings in a closed compartment of the defendant’s car cannot be unseen,” Worthy said.
New gun safety measures became law in Michigan two years ago, requiring gun owners to keep unattended weapons unloaded and locked with a locking device or stored in a locked box or container if a minor is present.
If a minor fires the gun and inflicts harm on themselves or another individual, the person who failed to store the gun properly could face a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a maximum fine of $7,500, or both.
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