When you leave your child at home with a babysitter, you hope that they’re being looked after and taken care of properly. Sadly, Caitlyn Smith, a 19-year-old babysitter, has been arrested after accidentally shooting her 10-year-old nephew accidentally while trying to take a selfie while posing with a loaded gun.
Update: the 10-yr-old child is listed in serious condition but is expected to make a full recovery. The child’s aunt, Caitlyn Smith (w/f 19 yrs), has been arrested & charged with Injury to a Child-serious bodily injury. (2nd degree felony). Great work by our Child Abuse Unit and https://t.co/ik5tSVKoRy
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) February 27, 2020
- The gun was kept unsecured at home. The incident took place on Tuesday, February 25, when the Harris County Sheriff’s Office responded to reports of shots fired in a home near the Rankin Road and Hardy Toll Road area. While preliminary information suggested a 10-year-old had been shot, they weren’t sure what happened and what condition the child was in until they arrived on the scene, according to a Facebook statement from Sheriff Ed Gonzalez. “There was an unsecured weapon inside the home. The female indicates that she retrieved that weapon to take pictures, and in the course of taking pictures the gun went off and struck the child,” he said at the scene.
- Thankfully, the child will survive. According to Fox26, the child is in serious condition at a local hospital but is expected to make a full recovery as the bullet thankfully missed his major organs. However, while he may be physically okay, something tells me the psychological effects of being a shooting victim at such a young age may stay with him a long time.
- Unsurprisingly, she’s been arrested and charged. Caitlyn Smith was arrested for the shooting and charged with injury to a child—serious bodily injury, which is a second-degree felony. She was booked into the local jail with bond set at $20,000.
- This was a tragic and completely avoidable accident. While there should never have been a loaded gun left unsecured in the house in the first place, the fact that Caitlyn Smith thought it would be fun to take a selfie with the weapon and post it online is also extremely problematic. So many shootings happen in America every day in situations like this and it has to stop. “It’s really sad. To know that you even pull out a gun in front of a child is really crazy,” said CeCe York, whose son attends school with the victim. “To even think, to even pose with a gun, or if you was having him take a picture with the gun, take a picture of you with a gun, that’s crazy. You shouldn’t… I don’t believe you should do that.”
