COVINGTON, Ky. — The parents of the 2-year-old shot and killed in Covington have been charged with manslaughter after police said a loaded handgun was left within reach of their two young children, resulting in their child's death.
According to his arrest citation, 21-year-old Tashaun Adams told police he and his child's mother, 23-year-old Selena Farrell, were sleeping in their living room when they woke up to the sound of a gunshot. Adams said he saw his 2-year-old son, Khalil, bleeding and called 911.
Police said Khalil was shot in the chest. Officers who first arrived at the scene rendered aid in the middle of Warren Street before paramedics rushed Khalil to Cincinnati Children's Hospital, where he later died.
Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said during a Friday press conference he believes the shooting can't be referred to as an accident, because he defines accidents as something that cannot be avoided.
"This certainly was not a situation where — this was very much avoidable," said Sanders. "It was caused by the fact that two adults left a loaded handgun with a round in the chamber in reach of a 3-year-old who they did not supervise."
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The arrest citation says Adams' 3-year-old son told an officer at the scene, "Daddy's gun is in a drawer." A forensic interviewer asked the 3-year-old who shot his younger brother, and he responded, "Me."
Police said Adams' handgun was found discarded in some barbecue on the stove. He is charged with second-degree manslaughter and hindering apprehension.
Farrell fled the home before police arrived and never went to the hospital to see her child, Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said.
She was taken into police custody on Thursday for violating her probation. She is also charged with second-degree manslaughter, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon and abandonment of a minor.
Covington police said another man, 20-year-old Jeremiah Thomas of Elsmere, was charged with hindering apprehension.
Sanders said he plans to present more intensive and varied charges for Adams and Farrell, like murder, to the grand jury to allow them to determine how the parents should be charged fully.
This is because there's no current legal precedent for an unsecured firearm being used by a child in the Commonwealth, Sanders said.
"There is no reported case law in Kentucky on charging a parent who failed to secure a loaded handgun from a 3-year-old child," said Sanders. "Of what we can find, it hasn't happened before ... This is a novel charge, but at the same time, I think by all means that we have enough evidence to sustain a conviction."
The gun at the center of the shooting was purchased by Farrell, Sanders said. She bought it from a federally-licensed seller, which Sanders said likely means it was purchased before Farrell was charged and convicted of a felony.
Police reports say Farrell told officers she bought the gun before she was a felon, but then gave it to Adams.
You can watch the full press conference below:
