Chicago police were called to Disney Magnet School Tuesday when a loaded gun accidentally fired inside an 8-year-old boy’s backpack, injuring another student.
The 8-year-old brought the loaded gun to school after prosecutors say he found it under his mother’s bed.
Tatanina Kelly is now held responsible and charged with three counts of misdemeanor child endangerment.
“I’m not surprised,” said Harold Krent, a professor at Kent College of Law. “You can’t leave prescription medicine near little children, you can’t leave sharp objects and you certainly shouldn’t leave a loaded gun. It’s a recipe for disaster.”
Krent said child endangerment laws exist to protect those who are young and defenseless. Kelly appeared in bond court Wednesday where a judge accused the 28-year-old mother of being “supremely negligent.”
“This isn’t just a matter of parental responsibility, it’s of human responsibility,” Krent said.
Kelly’s defense attorney acknowledged the gun should have been locked up, but he argued the incident was not something his client planned or did to purposefully violate the law.
But Judge Michael Hogan reminded Kelly that the incident could have resulted in something much worse.
“We are inches away, possibly centimeters away from a very different case and a very different tragedy,” Hogan said.
Despite no prior criminal record and legal ownership of the gun, Kelly was held on a $10,000 bond.
“The judge hopes people take this seriously and when they see it in the news they take steps to make sure guns are protected,” Krent said.
The 7-year-old injured Disney student was taken to the hospital in good condition. The bullet grazed the boy’s abdomen.
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