John Jefferson
Inset top: Sturlin Minion Jr. (WJBK/YouTube). Inset bottom: Halisa Lloydnette-Christine Brown (Detroit Police Department). Background: the apartment complex where Sturlin shot himself (WJBK/YouTube).
A Michigan mother was sentenced after her unsupervised 5-year-old son shot himself in the face as he played with a loaded gun left on a dresser while jumping on a bed in his apartment in front of his four siblings.
Halisa Lloydnette-Christine Brown, 25, was sentenced on Friday to six months imprisonment in the death of Sturlin Minion Jr., according to the Wayne County Sheriff’s office. Court records show that she pleaded guilty in July to involuntary manslaughter.
Brown and the boy’s father, Sturlin Markese Minion Sr., 33, were charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree child abuse, and firearm violations. Minion was also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The tragedy happened on Dec. 9. Detroit police were dispatched at 1:24 p.m. to an apartment complex in the 16500 block of Greenfield Road for a reported shooting, prosecutors said in a news release. Once there, officers found the child suffering from a gunshot wound to the face. The boy was taken to a hospital, where he died. The parents were quickly arrested, and four other children, ages 8 to 4, were taken into the care of Children’s Protective Services.
“I have said before and I will say this again and again: What is it going to take for gun owners to store their weapons safely when children are in their homes? How many more children must die? It takes mere minutes to store a gun safely. Is a child’s death not worth minutes of one’s time?” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in the news release.
Detroit Police Chief James White said the gun was left out on a dresser, local NBC affiliate WDIV reported. At the time, he minced no words with the Detroit News about the carelessness of the act.
“It’s completely ridiculous, irresponsible, stupid and unnecessary,” he said. “I’m sick and tired of it, and we have a baby now, dead, weeks before Christmas. I’ve been here how many times saying this? It’s completely unacceptable.”
Minion spoke out about the death with Fox affiliate WJBK.
“I had a call that my son had got shot, and I came as fast as I could,” he told the station through tears.
He said the gun was Brown’s and that she must have misplaced it “for them to be able to get access to it,” he told the outlet.
On GoFundMe, the boy’s aunt Silver Minion called him “my amazing, adventurous, handsome nephew.”
“He had many sister[s] and brothers who loved him dearly and a family that adored him!” she said. “Everyone is devastated and heartbroken at this moment. We need all the prayers and support we can possibly get in this grievous time.”
Minion pleaded no contest in the case and is set to be sentenced on Sept. 20, online court records show.
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