PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A 3-year-old died of a gunshot woundearlier this week on Monday, April 3, according to police.
Newly obtained court documents reveal that investigators believe the “firearm was left loaded and unattended.”
Police have arrested 20-year-old Jaquan Askew in relation to this incident and charged him with allowing access to firearms by children.
Police responded to reports of a gunshot wound in the 2500 block of Ash Street on Monday. PPD later confirmed that the 3-year-old boy was taken to a local hospital, but his injury proved to be fatal. The court documents say the boy suffered “a gunshot wound to his head.”
Police detained the boy’s father on the scene, according to the court documents. The documents say the father told detectives that in addition to him and his 3-year-old son, two other people were in the residence at the time. However, police received a conflicting statement from one of these two people, who denied being present at the house.
Police confirmed Thursday that there were three people inside the home at the time of the incident; Those three were Askew and two children.
The father said while he was using the bathroom, he heard a gunshot. He then went inside his son’s room and saw that he was injured.
After obtaining a search warrant, police recovered a firearm from the area where the boy was shot. In regard to the firearm, court documents state, “based off this investigation, this firearm was left loaded and unattended with disregard for human life.”
This is a developing story. Stay with News 3 for updates.
