A Milwaukee woman and her felon boyfriend are facing charges in the tragic incident where the woman’s 4-year-old niece accidentally shot herself with the boyfriend’s unsecured handgun. The loaded gun was found under a pillow by the young child.
Anthony Brookshire’s Draco-style weapon was “stored” under pillows on an air mattress, police said, according to WISN.
The boyfriend, 41-year-old Brookshire, a six-time convicted felon, has been charged with child neglect resulting in death and firearm possession by a felon. The girl, JaiNadia Little, somehow managed to get hold of the weapon and fired it, leading to the fatal outcome.
This girlfriend, 24-year-old Derreanna Little, was charged with child neglect.
According to prosecutors, the heartbreaking incident took place while Little was attending to her 1-year-old daughter. Upon hearing the gunshot on February 17, she made two frantic calls to 911. In the second call, amidst the chaos, she can be heard pleading, “Stay with me, stay with me” and asking someone named Anthony to retrieve her baby.
Little wrapped the weapon up in a blue jacket and moved it to the couple’s Chrysler Pacifica before taking the mortally wounded girl to the hospital. She was pronounced dead a few hours later at Children’s Wisconsin.
Brookshire has five prior gun convictions and told police her purchased two weapons found in the Pacifica despite being barred from doing so because he is convicted felon.
Little initially denied knowing anything about the guns but later said she knew about the weapons under the pillows.
Investigators say Brookshire and Little have provided conflicting accounts of the fatal shooting.
