FLINT, Mich. – A Flint girl's parents are facing charges after she found a loaded gun in her home and accidentally shot herself.
Eric Brown, 32, and Alicia Brown, 31, are charged with second degree child abuse, obstruction of justice and lying to a peace officer in a violent crime investigation. Eric Brown also faces a felony firearm charge.
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Police said the parents were home with their four children when one of their 4-year-old twin daughters went into a closet to get a toy. She grabbed a loaded gun and shot herself in the finger, and her left index finger had to be amputated as a result.
Police investigative reports said the parents kept multiple handguns and rifles in the closet where there were also toys. Some of the weapons were loaded, police said. The house did not have a gun safe.
“When there are children present in a home where guns are kept, I cannot stress enough that parents must be extra careful and vigilant to ensure the safety of their children and others,” prosecutor David Leyton said. “In this incident, it appears from what we know from the investigation that these two parents acted with almost no concern for their children’s safety when it came to firearms in the home and, as a result, they will be held accountable for their actions under the law."