'He got a hold of my gun. What did I do?' Indianapolis mother charged in toddler's death
INDIANAPOLIS — A mother is facing a criminal charge months after her 2-year-old son fatally shot himself on the city's east side.
Tiara Reeves, 42, is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death after her toddler, Jarel Miles, died in February.
She was arrested Friday morning.
The shooting was reported shortly before midnight Feb. 28 in the 3700 block of North Dearborn Street. Responding officers found Miles with a gunshot wound to the head. He was taken to a hospital in critical condition but did not survive.
Recently released court documents indicate the boy got ahold of the gun from her purse, according to a statement Reeves made to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers.
Jarel Miles: Coroner IDs Indianapolis 2-year-old who shot himself in the head
According to the affidavit, Reeves had just gotten home with her son that day after running errands and was doing chores around the house. The toddler told her, "Mommy, I'm 'bout to go potty," and she said OK.
She was in the living room when she heard a loud pop. At first, she thought it was a balloon or a light bulb bursting. She yelled for her son and when he did not answer, she went to a bedroom where she saw him on the bed and thought he was playfully fake sleeping, according to court documents.
She again yelled his name with no response. That's when she saw her purse on the bed, but not the firearm.
Panicking, she grabbed her purse and son and ran to the front room of the home yelling for her neighbors to help. Detectives noted in the affidavit a trail of blood from the bedroom to the front of the home.
When officers responded to the scene they saw the toddler being treated in the back of an ambulance. Reeves was on the phone with Jarel's father and police overheard her telling him, "Jarel's been shot. He got ahold of the gun. What did I do?"
Reeves told police she usually removes her gun from her purse to place it under her mattress when the kids aren't looking.
'100% preventable': Indiana kids killed by unsecured guns hits record. Would new laws help?
During interviews, Jarel's father told police that, to his knowledge, even if Reeves does not immediately remove the firearm from her purse, she usually places the purse somewhere out of their son's reach.
Reeves' bond was set at $10,000, and she bonded out Friday afternoon.
The shooting serves as a reminder to firearm owners to properly store their weapons.
"We're encouraging safe storage of firearms to keep them out of the hands of children using gun locks or gun safes," IMPD Officer William Young said. "I always tell folks, just putting a gun on top of refrigerators is not enough to keep them out of the hands of a toddler."
Deaths or injuries of Indianapolis children in unintentional shootings due to loaded, unsecured firearms hit record levels last year compared with previous years. In most cases, parents who otherwise have no criminal record leave their guns unattended and a child retrieves the weapon.
Contact Jade Jackson at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com. Follow her on Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana mother jailed after toddler grabs gun from purse, shoots self
