Share
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police say a 4-year-old girl shot herself Monday evening after finding a gun in her mother’s bedroom at an uptown Charlotte town house.
The girl’s mother, 36-year-old Marsharier Littlejohn, and the woman’s boyfriend, 30-year-old Leandre Budden, face charges of failure to store a firearm to protect minors, police said Tuesday.
Police said the handgun was in the couple’s bedroom.
Detectives had not yet served the warrant on Budden early Tuesday, police said.
The 4-year-old girl was back at home Tuesday morning after being treated at the hospital.
Police said the shooting happened about 6 p.m. in the 400 block of North Davidson Street. Officers were called to Presbyterian Hospital after a caller “stated that they have a child in the (emergency room) that has suffered from an apparent gunshot wound,” according to a statement from police.
That started a two-pronged police investigation. Officers went to the hospital and conducted interviews there. Meanwhile, detectives went to the child’s home to investigate.
Late Monday, investigators canvassed the neighborhood, a mixed-income complex of apartments and townhomes near First Ward Elementary School and just a few blocks from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police headquarters.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-336-1600.
