4-Year-Old Fatally Shot Himself In Car While Mom Smoked Pot In Front Seat, Sheriff Says

Investigators looking into the death of a 4-year-old boy in the back seat of a vehicle believe the child died after shooting himself in the head while two adults, including the child’s mother, smoked marijuana in the front seats, a Louisiana sheriff said. The boy’s two younger siblings were with him in the back seat at the time of the incident.

Speaking at a news briefing Monday, Jefferson Parish Sheriff Joseph Lopinto said the child, identified as Jarion Walker, died from a gunshot wound to the head after the Saturday night incident in Westwego, across the Mississippi River from New Orleans, NBC News reported.

Lopinto said the weapon belonged to the child’s father and had been left under a seat. The mother and her friend, who were cooperative with authorities, told the investigators they were unaware the child was playing with the gun at the time of the incident. The two adults also admitted to using marijuana at that time but deputies were unable to retrieve weed from the car, the outlet reported Wednesday.

Lopinto further revealed that authorities initially believed Walker may have been shot by a sibling, but it was found upon further investigation that the only children in the back seat with Walker were his 1-year-old and 22-month-old siblings, making it impossible for them to handle the weapon, according to WDSU. No other injuries were reported.

After law enforcement responded to a call at around 10.45 p.m. on Jan. 29, they found the child with what appeared to be a gunshot wound “to the back of the head,” but autopsy results revealed that the injury was a “contact wound to the front of the head,” Lopinto explained.

“These types of deaths can certainly be prevented,” the sheriff said, adding that “we shouldn’t ever leave a gun inside of a vehicle for numerous different reasons, this one being the most tragic reason.”

Walker’s mother and the adult friend who were with the kids in the vehicle have not been charged in relation to the incident. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to make an arrest on this at this point. They’ve just lost a child, that certainly wasn’t intentional by any means,” Lopinto said.

The tragic incident took place just a day after the Snellville Police Department in Georgia confirmed what it referred to as an “accidental shooting at Chipotle.” In a statement on Facebook, Snellville police said a 9-year-old “shot 7-year-old with a firearm left in the vehicle while the adult went in to pick up food.” Authorities said the injured child is expected to recover as the child was “alert and conscious” during transportation to a local hospital, The Macon Telegraph reported.

The #NotAnAccident Index of advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety showed that in 2021, “there were at least 371 unintentional shootings by children, resulting in 151 deaths and 239 injuries” in the U.S.