MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A 23-year-old man is facing a felony child neglect charge after police said a 3-year-old relative under his care accidentally shot herself over the weekend in southwest Miami-Dade.
According to Miami-Dade police, Orlando Young was watching the girl Saturday evening at her family’s Goulds-area home in the 11000 block of Southwest 220th Terrace and left the gun unattended on the living room sofa while he watched a football game on television.
An arrest report states that Young told police “he momentarily left his gun unattended on the couch because he was excited about a touchdown.”
The girl got hold of the gun and shot herself in the hand, police said, and family members took her to the hospital.
She was in surgery Monday morning, her grandmother told Local 10 News. It’s not clear when the little girl will be able to leave the hospital.
Police responded and arrested Young, who remained held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $12,500 bond on charges of child neglect causing great bodily harm and, in a separate case, battery oy a detainee on a visitor or other detainee.
Details about the latter charge weren’t immediately available Monday.