Antioch Parents Arrested In Toddler's Shooting Death
ANTIOCH (CBS 5) -- A toddler celebrating his second birthday died after being shot in the head in his family's Antioch apartment on Thursday, authorities told CBS 5, and the boy's parents were later arrested on child endangerment charges.
Antioch police Capt. Allan Cantando said the 2-year-old boy died at Sutter Delta Medical Center after suffering critical injuries from the shooting inside the apartment at 2405 Lemontree Court.
Cantando said the boy and his 4-year-old older brother were playing with their mother's handgun they had taken out of a bedroom drawer when the gun fired around 11:30 a.m.
The children's grandmother, babysitting while the parents were briefly away, told police she heard a single gunshot and left the living room to check on the boys; that was when she found the 2-year-old shot.
Police said it was not yet clear which boy fired the fatal shot. Their names were not released.
After questioning the parents, police arrested 27-year-old Eddie Lee Carr and 28-year-old Laqinda Modique on suspicion of felony child endangerment and reckless storage of a firearm. Carr was also booked on a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a weapon.
Lt. Orman Leonard said investigators had determined that Modique recently purchased the handgun, which Carr had removed from a safe Thursday morning and loaded it -- placing it in the bedroom drawer.
Carr had previous weapons and assault convictions and was recently discharged from parole, according to Leonard.
(Copyright 2010 by CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
