The mother of an 11-year-old Florida boy who was caught on video grabbing a gun from her car and firing into youth football practice faces five years in prison after being cleared of a felony weapons charge.
Sharelle Johnson, 33, was arrested Thursday and charged with criminal negligence more than two months after her son allegedly shot two 13-year-olds in a fight over chips.
He was charged with a third-degree felony because “his 11-year-old son was able to obtain a loaded firearm from an unsecured cardboard box left in his vehicle,” State’s Attorney Andrew Bain said.
“The cardboard box that stored the weapon was old and worn, did not have any security lock or fastener and was easily accessible,” he said.
“As a result, two children were shot and injured.”
Johnson’s son faces charges of attempted murder. The mother’s guilty plea of negligence carries a prison sentence of up to five years, prosecutors said.
Florida mother Sharelle Johnson, 33, has been charged with negligence for leaving a loaded firearm within easy reach of a child. Orange County Sheriff’s Office
Disturbing surveillance video from Oct. 2. caught the boy reaching into his mother’s car, grabbing a loaded handgun and firing at a pair of teenagers who police say had been chasing him in an Apopka parking lot.
Johnson’s arrest comes more than two months after his 11-year-old son grabbed a loaded gun from his car and shot two teenagers at youth football practice, police said. Apopka Police
A report from the Apopka Police Department said the pre-teen was chased and attacked by the victim, with witnesses telling detectives that one of the older boys had slapped him in the face during an argument over a bag of chips. Another witness said the 11-year-old was bullied.
The 11-year-old child is said to have been chased by the victim after an argument over a bag of chips. WLUC-TV
Surveillance video shows one of the victims chasing the 11-year-old just before the shooting. Someone tried to break up the fight, but the youth grabbed a gun and fired one shot at his pursuers, hitting one of them in the torso and another in the arm, police said.
Moments later, Johnson can be seen grabbing the gun from his son’s hand and dragging him back to the car.
Apopka Police Chief Mike McKinley at the time described the 11-year-old shooting suspect as “very quiet and shy” and “looked very somber.”
After the shooting, Johnson grabbed the gun from his son’s hand and dragged him back to the car. WLUC-TV
McKinley explained that police are pursuing a felony charge of attempted murder because they don’t feel the need to “charge an 11-year-old with no criminal history.”
“It’s a shame. No one wants to arrest an 11-year-old by any means, but based on our investigation, we feel the charges are justified,” the chief added.
The gunshot victim who was wounded in the torso is still in the hospital more than two months later, Fox 35 Orlando reports. Prosecutors said he suffered serious injuries that required surgery.
The boy’s mother was released from jail Thursday after posting a $2,500 bond. An attorney representing the family did not immediately return a message.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
