Two parents and an uncle were charged as being responsible for the December 13 shooting of a 4-year-old child at a mobile home outside of Gastonia, North Carolina. 

According to police, the boy and his sister discovered a gun neglectfully left on the coffee table with one bullet still in the chamber. The boy was shot once by his sister and died at the scene.

Hector Manuel Mendoza-Saucedo, 22, Savannah Leigh Brehm, 22, and Keith Deshawn Sturghill, 21, all face charges of felony child abuse, felony involuntary manslaughter, and the misdemeanor charge of keeping a handgun in a way that a child might obtain it.

The deceased boy, Michael Mendoza, was the son of Brehm and Mendoza-Saucedo. Sturghill was his uncle. All three lived in the mobile home with the children. Mom Brehm said that Michael’s sister, who is around the same age as Michael, accidentally shot and killed him. She claimed that she thought the gun was locked up.

According to the prosecution, the uncle owned the firearm. The father and the uncle weren’t at home on Tuesday when the shooting took place.

On Wednesday, the child’s mother pleaded with the court. Brehm said, “This is the worst thing that has ever happened to me, and it will scar me for the rest of my life. I have never been in trouble.” She claimed that although Uncle Keith had promised to put the rifle away before he left the home, it was left behind and tragically discovered by the kids.

She added that she heard the commotion and raced into the room as quickly as she could, but was too late. A neighbor across the street, Gabriel Brown, said that the mother arrived on his doorstep and began banging on his door, but he didn’t hear the gunshot. 

Interviewed by Channel 9, Brown said, “That young boy had his whole life ahead of him.”

The Gaston County police department offers free gun locks at their station’s front desk.