A horrific tragedy occurred on Saturday when a 3-year-old boy found a gun in the backseat of his parents’ vehicle and accidentally shot and killed his mother with it in Chicago, Illinois, according to a report.
According to Abc7‘ report, Dejah Bennet drove her son and her husband to a supermarket in Chicago on Saturday. While in the parking lot and the three of them still inside the car, the toddler got hold of a loaded gun in the back seat and started playing with it when it discharged, the report said.
The bullet struck his mother in the neck and she was declared dead soon after.
Authorities apprehended the boy’s father, Romell Watson, who was also present at the time of the shooting, and charged him with a misdemeanor gun charge, Abc7 said in an updated report.
Following the fatal shooting on Sunday, Andrew Holmes, a Dolton community activist, handed out 400 gun locks outside of the supermarket while speaking to shoppers, families in particular, about the importance of gun safety.
“This could have been prevented,” Holmes said. All it takes is a second: unlock it, thread it through the barrel, bring it back around, put it in and lock it back,” Holmes added. “If you leave it, secure it.”
The boy’s father had admitted to owning the firearm.
