Cops: Boy, 3, Fatally Shot Mom From Back Seat of Car

Illinois boy's father was taken into custody
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Mar 14, 2022 1:20 PM CDT
Cops: Toddler Fatally Shoots Mother in Parking Lot
The father was taken into custody but no charges have been filed.   (Getty Images/MattGush)

A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot his mother to death as the family was sitting in their car in a suburban Chicago supermarket parking lot, police said. The woman was shot Saturday in Dolton and pronounced dead at a hospital, police said. The family was sitting in their car outside a Food 4 Less store when the boy, who had been playing in the back seat, somehow found the gun and fired it, striking his mother, police said. Authorities said the boy’s father was taken into custody after indicating that he owned the gun, the AP reports.

No charges have been filed but the investigation is ongoing. The mother has been identified as 22-year-old Dejah Bennet. "This could have been prevented," Dolton trustee and crisis responder Andrew Holmes said Sunday as he visited the supermarket to hand out gun locks and speak to shoppers about the importance of gun safety. "All it takes is a second: unlock it, thread it through the barrel, bring it back around, put it in and lock it back," Holmes told WLS-TV. "If you leave it, secure it." (Last year, a Florida man was arrested after a 2-year-old boy fatally shot his mother during a Zoom call.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X