Who is at fault when a child shoots themselves or someone else fatally or otherwise in Florida?
That’s a question local prosecutors may face following the tragic death of a 3-year-old boy in the DeLand area. The boy, the son of a Florida corrections officer, fatally shot himself Wednesday evening.
Tragedy near DeLand:3-year-old boy who fatally shot himself was son of corrections officer
Florida law allows authorities to pursue charges in such cases when firearms are left accessible to minors.
Will the parents or guardians face charges?
Whether or not the parents of the boy face charges is ultimately up to the State Attorney’s Office, which will consider all of the evidence as well as how charges could compound the grieving family.
During a press conference Thursday, Sheriff Mike Chitwood said he couldn’t imagine “anything in the law books that can punish that family more than what happened last night.”
In similar cases, parents have been charged.
When a 3-year-old Gainesville boy fatally shot himself with a pistol last year, authorities charged the boy’s parents with manslaughter, unsafe storage of a firearm and child neglect.
What does the law say?
Florida law requires the safe storage of firearms.
That law may be violated if a person fails to properly store or secure a firearm, and it results in a minor gaining access to the weapon “without the lawful permission of the minor’s parent or the person having charge of the minor, and possesses or exhibits it, without the supervision required by law,” statute 790.174 (2) states.
What happens if the law is violated?
Allowing a minor to gain access to a firearm that wasn’t properly secured can result in a second-degree misdemeanor, which is punishable by up to 60 days in jail and/or a $500 fine.
However, in the case of a minor inflicting injury or death on themself or someone else, prosecutors may pursue charges related to culpable negligence.
Source: news journal online