HIALEAH, Fla. – A 14-time convicted felon from northwest Miami-Dade may become a 16-time convicted felon after his 3-year-old nephew shot himself with a gun he left in a backpack while he went shopping in Hialeah, authorities say.
Wearing an anti-suicide vest, Cedric Hightower, 43, faced a Miami-Dade judge on Thursday after police arrested him earlier in the week.
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According to an arrest report from the Hialeah Police Department, the incident happened last Friday at the Home Depot at 950 SE 12th St., just northeast of Miami International Airport.
The report states that the child’s parents picked up Hightower and took him to the home improvement store, where he went inside to buy flowers.
But Hightower left a backpack behind, police said — and it had a gun inside.
Police said after Hightower got out, the child’s parents reported hearing a “loud bang” and turned around to see the child “crying and bleeding profusely from his left thumb.”
Investigators believe the boy was playing with the backpack when the gun went off, according to police.
The child’s parents called for help, police said, and medics took the child to Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center for treatment.
Authorities said Hightower fled before officers arrived. Miami-Dade police later located him at an apartment in the Brownsville area Monday and took him to one of the agency’s stations.
HPD detectives went to the station and took him to their headquarters, where he told authorities that he heard the “loud bang” as he walked back to the vehicle, the report states. Authorities redacted additional statements from the report but stated that Hightower “confessed.”
Miami-Dade Judge Mindy Glazer found probable cause to charge Hightower with felon in possession of a firearm and leaving a firearm within easy access of a minor.
“Look, I understand it’s an accident, but you’re a convicted felon and you’re not supposed to have a gun,” Glazer said. “I understand you said you found that backpack that had the gun and money in it, but it was obviously very—it’s very unfortunate what happened. I hope the child will be OK.”
Glazer found no probable cause to charge Hightower with child neglect causing great bodily harm, finding that the boy was not under his care at the time, a requirement for the felony charge.
Hightower’s prior convictions, according to the Florida Department of Corrections, include counts of selling drugs near a Miami-Dade school; he spent nearly six years locked up.
She ordered him to stay away from the victim, his home and school and gave him a $12,500 total bond.
A defense attorney asked Glazer during Thursday’s hearing whether she would consider house arrest as an alternative.
“Absolutely not,” the judge replied. “He’s a convicted felon and has a firearm and now this child probably lost his thumb. He’s lucky he still has his life.”