Police arrest teen brother of toddler fatally shot after finding gun
ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas) - Arlington police have arrested the teenage brother of a toddler who shot and killed himself earlier this month.
Dispatch received a 911 call from a neighbor, who heard the shot fired at the family's house in the 5300 block of Pocassett Dr. about 12:30 a.m. The boy's mother also called, telling the dispatcher that her son, later identified as Rio Carrington, was bleeding.
Police and paramedics arrived to find Rio had a gunshot wound to his face. They took him to Medical City Arlington where he was pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Rio would have turned 3-years-old in less than two weeks. His death was at least the sixth child death this year from a gunshot in Tarrant County, according to data available from the county medical examiner's office.
From 2018 through 2022, Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth has treated 225 juvenile patients for gunshot wounds, and 22 children who have died.
Homicide investigators said they believe Rio found a gun in his older brother's room and accidentally fired it, striking himself. Officers said they recovered two firearms at the home – both believed to have been brought there by the teen.
Rio's death came less than a week after a 2-year-old girl shot herself in the chest in Fort Worth. In that case police said the girl's mother told them her daughter may have found the gun in an unlocked drawer.
Police in Arlington stressed Rio's death may have been prevented if the gun was in a safe, or had a lock on it, which are available for free at the city's police department.
"Please lock your handguns up," Courtney White, with Arlington police previously told CBSNewsTexas. "They can get into the wrong hands, or they can get into a child's hands. And something this serious and unfortunate can happen to them. And now this mom is going to have to bury her young child."
Rio's brother was charged with one count of making a firearm accessible to a child resulting in death and one count of tampering with physical evidence. He is currently being held at the Tarrant County Juvenile Detention Center.
Investigators are still working to determine where and how Rio's brother got the guns.
