3-year-old fatally shoots himself after discovering unsecured gun inside home while mother was busy doing heroin
Police said a three-year-old boy found a gun at his home in Tennessee while his mother was doing drugs and fatally shot himself in the face.
According to a state by Jackson Police, Chrisaiah Arrington was found by responding officers suffering from a single gunshot wound on Saturday before he was rushed to the hospital, Daily Mail reports.
As of now, Chrisaiah's mother Linda Arrington, 25, and her boyfriend Antonio Dancer, 43, are being remanded in custody at the Madison County Jail on charges including negligent homicide.
It also came to light that this wasn't the first time the toddler had gotten his hands on a weapon at the residence. The three-year-old had found a gun under a pillow in his mother's room just a month prior to the tragic incident.
According to the Jackson Sun, both Arrington and Dancer admitted to authorities they were aware of the weapons in their home.
While Dancer claimed he kept the gun under the mattress, it was later recovered by investigators from a dumpster located near the residence.
The 43-year-old, who had already been convicted of felony auto burglary in 1996, was additionally charged as a felon in possession of a firearm.
Detectives concluded that Arrington and Dance were under the influence of drugs when Chrisaiah, unattended, discovered the unsecured weapon.
During a court appearance, Arrington admitted she had a heroin problem and that she suffered from mental health problems related to anxiety and mood disorders.
That said, her bail has been set to $35,000 while her boyfriend has a bail of $50,000.
In a bid to help pay for Chrisaiah's funeral arrangements, his aunt set up a GoFundMe page hoping to receive donations for the same. "No one was prepared for this loss as baby Chris had an entire life to live," the fundraising page read. "Our family was devastated at the news that on Saturday 5/11/19, we lost one of our babies."