CINCINNATI -- A 17-month-old girl who was shot in the stomach Monday morning in West Price Hill was shot by a 3-year-old sibling, according to Hamilton County prosecutors during an arraignment hearing Tuesday.
The shooting victim's father, Cortez Reed, was arrested Monday afternoon. He was charged with endangering children, tampering with evidence, receiving stolen property and obstructing official business. He was given a $59,500 cash bond.
Reed's daughter was shot inside a home on Fehr Road at about 10:18 a.m., Cincinnati Police Department Lt. Steve Saunders said. The child's mother, Katherine Miller, was at the home at the time of the shooting, but said she did not witness the shooting.
During Reed's arraignment Tuesday, prosecutors said he left two loaded handguns in a shoebox on the floor of the home where the child was shot -- a .38 revolver and a 9mm. He was in the process of moving back in after the child's mother kicked him out a day earlier, prosecutors said. Reed told police he was in the bathroom when his daughter was shot.
NEW: Prosecutors allege Cortez Reed left 2 loaded handguns in a shoebox on the floor, says 3-year-old actually shot 1-year-old. @WCPO pic.twitter.com/ypqcmO6aEJ
— Ally Kraemer (@AllyKraemer) March 7, 2017
The girl who was shot is in "critical but stable condition," Cincinnati Police Department spokeswoman Tiffaney Hardy said.
A K-9 unit and heavily armed officers helped search some woods near the house, but they didn't find Reed. Agents from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also were at the scene.
Reed, 27, attempted to dispose of one gun -- not the gun used in the shooting -- by putting it in a box and hiding that box in the woods, according to an affidavit.
Reed was arrested at 5:30 p.m. inside an apartment building in Cheviot. He made arrangements to turn himself over to police, but "failed to show up as arranged," prosecutors said.
Reed was hiding in Tonya Roberts' apartment when police found him, prosecutors said. Roberts told police she picked Reed up at a park. Roberts tried to hide the gun used in the shooting in her apartment, but later told police where it was hidden and allowed them to search her apartment. The gun was registered as stolen from Sharonville in Oct. 2016, prosecutors said.
Multiple children were removed from the home where the shooting took place, Lt. Paul Neudigate said. All five of the children removed from the home were siblings of the victim; they were turned over to Hamilton County Job and Family Services.
"Any time you have a small child shot, it's becoming all too common and it's just got to stop," Neudigate said.
Reed works as a tattoo artist and has no prior felony convictions, his attorney said in court Tuesday. Reed's criminal record does show multiple domestic violence charges.
Reed was ordered to stay away from all six of the children.
WCPO will continue to update this story.
