Dad charged with manslaughter after son shoots sister
By Isolde Raftery, msnbc.com
A Washington state police officer was charged Tuesday with second-degree manslaughter two months after his 3-year-old son picked up his unsecured gun and fatally shot his older sister.
On March 10, Derek Carlile, 31, and his wife locked their four children in the family van and stepped out to run a quick errand at an art studio. Carlile's wife, Forrest, asked whether he had secured his personal weapon but in his haste, Carlile forgot, according to charging documents. Investigators suggest it could have been that he was also tired – the night before, he had worked until 2 a.m.
Forgetting to secure the weapon was not typical for him, he later told investigators; usually he strapped the .38-caliber revolver to his ankle with a Velcro strap or locked it in a side door compartment in the van.
According to charging documents obtained by the Everett Herald, investigators believe the boy stepped out of his booster seat, grabbed his father's gun from a cup holder and shot his 7-year-old sister Jenna in the stomach.
The boy was apparently fascinated guns, Carlile told investigators, saying that he "climbs up on top of the safe and gets to the holsters."
"That's why I'm beating myself up, because I left my damn gun, for 40 seconds in the center," he said. "It's like, what the hell?"
The prosecutor wrote, "Though the undeniable tragedy and grief that has stricken the defendant and his family is staggering, compassion must be balanced with accountability for the acts which caused it."
On that afternoon, as Carlile and his wife spoke with the shop owner, they heard a thud. Rushing back to the van, Carlile screamed, "He's got the gun." He immediately administered aid to his daughter but she died just after midnight.
Detectives obtained a copy of a firearms training guide from where Carlile had trained as a police officer. One chapter addresses children and firearms and the misconceptions that children "don't know how (a gun) works" and, "they aren't strong enough to use it."
Read the original story at KING5 News
Defense lawyer David Allen issued a statement to KING5 News: "This is a double tragedy for the Carlile family that not only lost Jenna, but now also faces the possibility of losing Derek to prison if the prosecution is successful. While he takes full responsibility for this tragic accident, his actions were not criminal and he intends to vigorously defend this charge."
Boy, 9: 'Dear Amina, I am sorry I hurt you because I brought a gun to school'
Around that time, three other children in Washington state were accidentally killed with guns. Another 3-year-old killed himself; Amina Bowman, 8, was shot by a classmate who had brought a gun to school; and a Spokane, Wash. police officer's 10-year-old daughter shot herself in the leg with his gun.
Carlile could face 27 months in prison.
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