Florida mother charged with negligence after 4yo son found the loaded gun she kept in her purse and turned it on himself

The mother of a four-year-old boy who died from a gunshot wound to the head has been charged by Florida police after it was alleged that the boy took the loaded gun from his mother’s purse and pointed it at himself before the firearm went off.

Diamond Phillips, 29, was arrested by the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, September 22, according to court records viewed by People. Phillips’ arrest came after the death of her son on June 21 this year.

In a probable cause affidavit that was filed on August 28, investigators wrote that deputies were called out to the home in Sarasota following reports that a child had shot himself. The deputies alleged that the four-year-old boy had climbed up onto a kitchen stool before reaching into his mother’s purse, which was on the kitchen island, and taking out the .380-caliber Smith & Wesson pistol that she reportedly kept in there.

An autopsy revealed what likely happened

According to investigators, forensics and an autopsy report revealed that the child was most likely looking down the barrel of the gun when it went off. A bullet fragment was also reportedly found in the kitchen ceiling. A spent cartridge casing was also found in the gun’s ejection port and chamber, which pointed to a stovepipe malfunction (which occurs when a casing fails to eject properly). 

The Sheriff’s office claimed that the malfunction “was likely caused by insufficient grip resistance during firing, which is consistent with a young child operating the firearm.” When deputies arrived on scene Phillips reportedly told them that she had kept the firearm in a small compartment inside her purse along with an extra magazine which she used “for protection while away from home.” On that day the gun was loaded and “not otherwise secured.”

Phillips said that she had put the purse containing the gun on the kitchen island, believing that it was out of reach of her son. She also allegedly said that her children knew they weren’t allowed to climb the stools or eat at the kitchen counter. According to the affidavit, the boy’s grandmother had also told him and his two-year-old sister not to climb on the counter a short while before the gun went off.

Following the incident, Diamond Phillips was charged with culpable negligence involving a firearm accessible to a minor. She was arrested on September 22 and released on September 23 on $10,000 bond. Her next expected court appearance is expected to be on November 6.