GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Three people are in jail after a 4-year-old boy was shot and killed in Gaston County Tuesday afternoon, police said.
The Gaston County Police Department responded to a reported shooting at a home on Cindy Lane in Gastonia a few minutes before 4:30 p.m. When officers got to the home, they found a 4-year-old boy who had been shot. The child died at the scene.
Neighbor Gabriel Brown says he rushed over to help when he learned the child was shot.
“There’s a kid hurt who needs help. That’s all that mattered," Brown said. “It’s always different when it’s a child and my heart broke a little more when I found out he didn’t make it.”
During the investigation, detectives determined the child's mother and father, as well as another relative who lived at the home, failed to properly secure the gun.
The child who was killed and one of his siblings found the weapon. While the other sibling was holding the gun, police say she fired a shot, killing her 4-year-old brother.
The Gaston County District Attorney's Office decided to charge all three adults at the home with involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.
The suspects were identified as 21-year-old Hector Manuel Mendoza, 22-year-old Savannah Leigh Brehm, and 21-year-old Keith Sturghill.
In court on Wednesday afternoon Brehm pleaded with the judge for a lower bond, saying everything was a tragic accident.
“This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me and it’s going to scar me for life," Brehm said. “I’ve never been in trouble before. This was an accident. I didn’t even know. I was taking care of my other kid at the time in the other room and I heard it. I thought he put it up.”
Investigators believe Sturghill is the suspected owner of the gun. The judge ordered a $400,000 secured bond for him. The two parents each received a $250,000 secured bond.
The news stunned next-door neighbors and property manager Conner Kring.
“It’s just a very unfortunate thing that’s happened and, from what we can tell, an accident,” Kring told WCNC Charlotte.
Kring called the family good people and said they always lend a helping hand to neighbors.
"I just can’t imagine what they’re going through right now,” she added.
Police are reminding gun owners to keep firearms safe and locked to prevent another life from being taken.
“Lock it behind lock and key where a child does not have access to it,” Captain Downey said.
Echo Training also offers basic firearms training courses for children as young as six years old to teach them how to properly handle a gun.
“Teaching them actual safety," owner Michael Pegram said. "Not how to shoot a gun, but how to be safe with it, and I start out with nerf guns and I go over the four cardinal safety rules."
Those rules include assuming all guns are loaded, keeping your finger off the trigger, pointing the gun in a safe direction and always being aware of your target and surroundings.
The next court date for all three suspects is set for Jan. 5.
Anyone with information on the investigation is asked to contact the Gaston County Police Department at 704-866-3320 or call 911.
Note: WCNC instituted a new policy in March 2021 regarding the broadcast or posting of mugshots.
WCNC will only air or post a mugshot if the person has been formally charged with a crime and in a few other cases. The exceptions include: If it appears the person could be a danger to themselves or others or if they are wanted by authorities; to differentiate between people with a common name; if the photos could encourage more victims to come forward. The news-editorial leadership may also decide to use a mugshot based on the severity of the crime(s) committed and/or the level of public interest in the crime and ensuing criminal proceedings.
WCNC Charlotte is choosing to show the mugshots of the suspects in this case due to the nature of the charges and public interest in the case.
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