Parents charged after Chicago boy shot in struggle over gun

CHICAGO — The parents of a 1-year-old boy who was shot in the head as his parents struggled over a gun inside a Chicago home were each ordered held on Thursday in lieu of $10,000 bond.

Travis McCoy, 26, is charged with felony false alarm to 911 and misdemeanour child endangerment. Adriana Smith, 28, is charged with felony obstruction of justice and misdemeanour child endangerment. Cook County prosecutors say the two were arguing over finding another place to live when the gun went off. The bullet ricochet and hit the boy in the side of the head.

McCoy was arrested Monday after bringing the child to the hospital for treatment. The father told authorities that a gunman had shot the boy on a street nearby. However, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said investigators couldn’t find a crime scene.

Detectives later determined no shooting occurred at the location McCoy pointed out to police and that the boy was wounded in a struggle in a home a half-block away. Guglielmi said the bullet didn’t penetrate the boy’s skull.

Doctors said the boy was expected to be released from Lurie Children’s Hospital this week.

Defence attorney Emily Bock called the shooting an “unimaginable accident.”

The Associated Press