HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – A Hollywood man is facing two felony charges after police said he left a gun within reach of his 6-year-old son, who subsequently shot himself in the arm on New Year’s Day.
While the incident location was redacted from a police report, Travyonne Martin lives in an apartment in the 2500 block of Pierce Street, according to court records. He was arrested Tuesday on charges of child neglect causing great bodily harm and allowing a minor to access a weapon.
Police said just after 10:15 p.m., a neighbor called 911 to report that Martin, 32, was “banging on his door frantically” and appeared to have blood on his shoulder.
He then saw Martin, his girlfriend and his son speed off, police said. The boy underwent surgery at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital and survived.
Authorities said they found eight guns at the home, all loaded and unsecured, except for one. Police said the gun used in the accidental shooting was left on a table.
The child’s mother told a Broward County judge Thursday that while she and Martin don’t see eye to eye, he is a good father overall. But Martin got quite a lecture from the judge.
“Mr. Martin, please don’t answer me, but I don’t know what you were thinking, sir. I don’t know in what world you were thinking that having a gun right next to your son was a good idea,” she said. “Don’t answer me. I’m just telling you.”
She continued: “He’s a child. He doesn’t know if it’s a toy or not a toy. Whether you tell him five times that he shouldn’t do it, it’s not on him. It’s on you, sir. You understand that?”
The judge barred Martin from having in-person contact with his son, who is now out of the hospital and recovering at home.
He was being held in Broward’s Paul Rein Detention Facility on a $20,000 bond, according to jail records.