People v. Heber

OPINION OF THE COURT

Michael A. Ambrosio, J.

In this case, an all too familiar tragedy raises what is apparently a novel question of law in this state. Can a person be held criminally liable for the unintentional firearm related *413death of a young child who shoots himself with a gun left by that person in an easily accessible location in his home?

On July 14, 2001, four-year-old Ojagee Heber died as a result of a single gunshot wound to the head. Ojagee accidentally shot himself with an illegal firearm that his uncle, the defendant Wayne Heber, left underneath the cushion of a chair in the living…