Background: The Memphis, Tennessee, home where authorities say the fatal shooting occurred (Google Maps). Inset: Marquavious Washington (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office).
A Tennessee father is in custody after authorities said his 5-year-old son came home from school, discovered the man’s gun, and fatally shot himself in the head.
Marquavious Washington, 24, is charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of his son, Tamir Washington, according to court records reviewed by Law&Crime. He is also facing charges of aggravated child abuse and reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon.
First responders treated the boy at the scene before transporting him to a nearby children’s hospital. Tamir was pronounced dead less than an hour after police initially arrived at the home.
Washington, the defendant, was reportedly found “standing in the front yard” and shouting that he did not know how Tamir had found his gun. Walker, Tamir’s mother, was described as “frantic and screaming” while walking around “covered in blood.”
Neighbors also attempted to assist the family. One woman told officers she was inside her home when she heard “a loud knocking on her door” and then saw the commotion outside. She said she heard someone say, “He shot himself.”
Inside the residence, deputies discovered a black handgun lying on a bed in a bedroom, along with “a large amount of blood on the floor of the residence.”
Washington was arrested and booked into the Shelby County Jail. He remains held on a $100,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Tamir had reportedly just started the school year two weeks before.
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