A little girl found a loaded gun on a coffee table in her home, and accidentally shot her little brother.
Her parents and her uncle, who also reside in the home, are being held responsible for the December 13 shooting and death of the boy by his sister at a mobile home outside of Gastonia, North Carolina.
The gun had one bullet in the chamber. When the children picked up the gun to play, the boy was accidentally shot once by his sister and died immediately.
The parents, Hector Manuel Mendoza-Saucedo, 22, Savannah Leigh Brehm, 22, and the uncle, Keith Deshawn Sturghill, 21, are all facing charges of felony child abuse, felony involuntary manslaughter, and the misdemeanor charge of keeping a handgun in a way that a child might find it.
The deceased boy, Michael Mendoza, 4, was the son of Brehm and Mendoza-Saucedo. Sturghill was his uncle. The three lived together in the mobile home with the children. Savannah Brehm, the mom, said she thought the gun was locked up. Uncle Keith, the owner of the gun, had promised he would lock up the gun when he left the house. Mom was home alone with the kids.
In court on Wednesday, the child’s mother pleaded with the court and said, “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and it will scar me for the rest of my life. I have never been in trouble.” She claimed that although Uncle Keith had promised to put the gun away before he left the home, it was left behind and tragically found by the kids.
The Gaston County police department has free gun locks at their station’s front desk.
