A Florida man is facing negligence charges after his 5-year-old son fatally shot himself in the head with a gun he found in the glove box of the man’s car.
Jamal Daniel Todman was arrested Monday and charged with negligent storage of a firearm in connection with the Oct. 4 death of his son Judah.
The accidental shooting happened outside an Orlando day care center, while Todman, 34, was inside picking up his 3-year-old son, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
It’s unclear how long Judah was left in the car by himself. However, when his father and brother came back, the gun from the car’s glove box was on the floor, and Judah was slumped over with blood on his head, according to WESH.
The boy was rushed to a hospital across the street, but died from self-inflicted shooting wounds.
Investigators say Todman told them he kept the gun in the glove box and that it was usually locked, according to The Associated Press.
The gun is registered to Todman’s wife. Todman himself was convicted of felony possession of a firearm in 2005 and is legally forbidden from owning a firearm.
In addition to the negligence charge, Todman was charged with carrying a concealed firearm by a convicted felon, according to the Orlando Sentinel.
Monday’s arrest came after an investigation lasting over two months. Todman has since bonded out of jail, according to NBC Miami.
Gunshot wounds are now the third leading cause of childhood deaths in the U.S., according to a study published earlier this year in the journal Pediatrics.
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