HOWELL, Mich. – A Southeast Michigan mother on Monday pleaded no contest to child abuse charges several months after her child accidentally shot themself to death.
On Monday, March 25, Tonya Lacey pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree child abuse that stemmed from the June 2023 death of her 2-year-old child. Pleading no contest means Lacey accepts conviction of the charge, but does not admit any guilt.
Lacey has been accused of “failing to properly secure a firearm that sadly made its way into the hands of a curious 2-year-old child,” Howell police said last September. At around 6 p.m. on June 11, 2023, that 2-year-old child got ahold of a gun and shot themself in a home in the area of Byron Road and M-59.
The toddler was taken to the hospital, where they were later pronounced dead. Police said Lacey was home at the time of the accidental shooting, and that the child’s father was not. Police also clarified that the gun was not connected to the father in any way.
Lacey, who was 41 years old at the time of her arraignment, is scheduled to be sentenced at a Livingston County court on Thursday, April 18. She faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the felony charge.
You can see footage from the scene from June 11, 2023, in the video below.