WESTWEGO, La. (AP) — A 4-year-old boy in Louisiana, sitting in the back of a car with his two little brothers, died after he was accidentally shot in the head with a gun he found while his mother and another adult were smoking marijuana in the front seat, authorities said.
An autopsy concluded Jarion Walker’s gunshot wound was self-inflicted, Jefferson County Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said at a news conference Monday night, The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate reported.
“It was a contact wound to the forehead, above the right eyebrow,” Coroner Gerry Cvitanovich said.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:45 p.m. Saturday in the city of Westwego, a suburb of New Orleans. Jarion was sitting in the back seat with two brothers, ages 22 months and a 1-year-old, authorities said.
The adults, who admitted they were smoking marijuana, said they heard the gunshot, Lopinto said. The little boy was taken to the hospital, where he died, the officer said.
No one has been arrested, though authorities will complete the investigation and turn over their findings to the Jefferson district attorney’s office, Lopinto said.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to make an arrest right now,” he said. “They just lost a son and it certainly wasn’t intentional in any way.”
The gun belonged to the boy’s father, authorities said. The minor is thought to have found it under the seat, Lopinto said. “These kinds of deaths are preventable,” he added.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
.
