A mother in Florida was arrested after her 4-year-old son found her gun in her purse and fatally shot himself in the head.
Diamond Phillips has been charged with culpable negligence involving a firearm, according to Manatee County court records.
The incident took place on June 21 when the sheriff’s office responded to a home in Sarasota after they received reports that a 4-year-old boy had shot himself, according to a probable cause affidavit viewed by Law & Crime.
The deputies met with Phillips, 29, and the child’s grandmother, who said that the boy shot himself “using the mother’s gun.”
Authorities cared for the boy, though he was ultimately pronounced dead from his injuries.
Deputies launched an investigation into the matter, and they learned the boy found his mother’s gun in her Steve Madden purse. The bag “was located on the kitchen island.”
“This conclusion is supported by the victim’s position at the scene where he was found lying” on his back “in front of the kitchen island with an apparent gunshot wound to the head above his left eye,” the affidavit stated.
Authorities also noted that the boy’s feet were facing the kitchen island, indicating that “he fell back away from it.” Meanwhile, a bullet fragment was found in the ceiling above where the boy’s body was.
Phillips spoke to investigators and explained that she kept her firearm in a zippered compartment of her purse without a holster. “She advised that she normally carried the firearm loaded on her person in her purse for protection while away from home,” the charging document stated.
She added that she “typically” put her purse on top of the kitchen island, microwave or refrigerator in order to keep the weapon away from her children.
“The mother explained the children were not allowed to eat at the kitchen island and could only access the table by climbing onto the bar stools,” the affidavit stated.
Phillips also said she heard the grandmother tell the kids “to stay off the stools and away from the island” shortly before the shooting took place.
Investigators ultimately determined that both the kitchen island and the purse were accessible to Phillips’ children, which led them to believe that the charge for culpable negligence involving a firearm was appropriate.
After she was arrested, Phillips posted bond on Wednesday, September 23. She is scheduled to return to court on November 6 for her arraignment.
It’s not currently clear if Phillips has entered a plea or retained legal counsel following her arrest.
