A man from Montana is facing a negligent homicide charge after he left his loaded handgun on the living room couch while he stepped outside to smoke. His 3-year-old son picked up the gun and accidentally shot himself in the face.
According to Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short, who spoke with KRTV, deputies responded to the incident shortly after 10 a.m. on Tuesday. They found 24-year-old Timothy Moore sitting on the road outside his home.
A deputy said Moore appeared to be in an “altered mental state” and asked the deputy “to shoot him” when asked if he was involved in the incident.
Moore admitted to the deputy that he had left the loaded gun on the couch when he went outside. After hearing a popping sound, he rushed back inside to discover his toddler son with the gun and a gunshot wound to the head. The child was transported to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, where he later passed away.
Deputies found a .22 caliber handgun and two magazines for the weapon in Moore’s pants pocket. The deputies also saw “track” marks on his arm that appeared consistent with intravenous drug use and found paraphernalia consistent with drug use in the house.
Moore is being held in the Lincoln County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond and has a preliminary hearing set for June 11.
