A Baltimore grandmother is facing criminal charges for failing to secure the gun her 9-year-old grandson was carrying when he fatally shot a teenage girl last summer, authorities announced Thursday, saying the indictment should serve as a warning about the importance of a safe firearm. storage.
Nykayla Strawder, 15, was hanging out on the front porch of her family’s West Baltimore rowhome with other children when the gun went off. The police said it was accidental.
Under Maryland law, the 9-year-old boy cannot face criminal charges because of his age. But the August shooting sparked outrage from the victim’s family and called for adults to be held accountable for allowing children access to deadly weapons.
Baltimore police previously said the gun was registered to a relative of the boy who worked as a private security guard.
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A grand jury indictment now charges her grandmother, April Gaskins, with reckless endangerment and two counts of failing to secure a firearm with a minor present unsupervised, the Baltimore State Attorney’s Office confirmed Thursday. Court records show the indictment was filed in November, but Gaskins, 54, was arrested this week.
“While I cannot discuss the details of an open and pending case, it is clear that the grand jury decision exemplifies how paramount gun violence is in our city,” said State Attorney Ivan Bates, who took office last month. past. “He further underscores the seriousness of responsible gun ownership and proper gun storage.”
Baltimore recently recorded more than 300 annual homicides for the eighth consecutive year despite several ongoing anti-violence initiatives.
A grandmother has been charged after her grandson fatally shot a 15-year-old girl last summer. The 9-year-old boy cannot be charged because of her young age.
Loved ones and activists demanded “Justice for Kayla” after her death symbolized the myriad broken systems that have contributed to Baltimore’s high homicide rate. Family and friends remembered the high school sophomore as a vibrant personality with a bright future.
“How come you didn’t realize your gun was missing? There’s no excuse: knowing there’s a kid in the house and not keeping your gun hidden,” her father, Dontay Jones, told The Baltimore Sun last year. “Our daughter will never come back. We will be looking at our daughter in a coffin. I will never see her smile again.”
Maryland law says an adult may not leave a loaded firearm “where the person knew or should have known that an unsupervised child would have access” to the weapon, a misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a $1,000 fine.
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“This indictment sends a strong message that we will hold accountable those who fail to practice responsible gun ownership and secure their firearms,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison said in a statement Thursday.
Under a bill passed by state legislators last year, children under the age of 10 cannot be charged with a crime. Extensive research shows that young children cannot fully understand the consequences of their actions and the workings of the criminal justice system.
News of the indictment comes after a January shooting at a Virginia elementary school, where a first-grader brought his mother’s gun to class and shot his teacher. Virginia law prohibits leaving a loaded gun where it is accessible to a child under 14, but no charges have been filed against the boy’s mother.
