Young mother killed after accidentally shot by toddler playing with gun; father in custody

[BradAllison]

https://abc7chicago.com/dolton-shooting-food-4-less-accidental-dejah-bennet/11649060/

DOLTON, Ill. (WLS) -- A young mother is dead after her toddler accidentally shot and killed her Saturday in Dolton, according to police.

A family's life was changed in an instant while sitting in a Food-4-Less parking lot.

Police said a 3-year-old boy got hold of a gun in the back seat of his parent's car and began playing with the weapon. It discharged, hitting his mother, 22-year-old Dejah Bennet, in the neck.

She died a short time later.

"This could have been prevented," said Dolton trustee and crisis responder Andrew Holmes.

[lapfog_1]

1. "This could have been prevented"

understatement of the year.

But no Darwin award...

[Walleye]

2. This happens way too often!

[randr]

3. NOT an accident

The weapon was intentionally left where a child could find it

[Karma13612]

5. Negligent, not intentional.

But, in any case, it is thoroughly tragic and was absolutely avoidable and preventable.

[randr]

8. Whom ever placed the weapon where the child found it

did so with all intent to leave it just where it was found. It took a conscious effort to put it there.
I am sick of lame excuses for how weapons are handled.

[Karma13612]

9. Intent

In a legal sense means there was intent by the mother to leave the weapon so that the child would pick up the weapon and fire it. Causing harm.

You have to prove intent.

That is difficult. Please don’t misunderstand. I am not making excuses for this negligence by either the mother or father. But it was careless criminal negligence, not intentional.

I would remove every weapon from every household in America if I had my way.

I hate guns and find them repulsive. And expressing here what I think of the majority of gun owners in this country would get me banned for life from DU.

[sanatanadharma]

4. Young mother shot dead by a toddler who was given access to a gun; father in custody

Fixed the headline

[USALiberal]

6. Lock him up for a year. Nt

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. I thought guns made us safer.

Most of the time when this sort of thing happens, the negligent parent is never charged. Often the excuse is given that they've already suffered enough. I wish instead these parents should be made very high profile and public examples and should serve serious jail time.