Parents of dead 2-year-old: We told kids 'not to touch' the unattended gun
June 05, 2013
The parents of a 2-year-old who died in Tennessee after her 5-year-old stepbrother fatally shot her with an unattended revolver say that they told their kids "not to touch the gun unless momma and daddy are around."
Almost three years after the death of Camron Wallace, the trial of parents Samantha and Thomas Wallace began with Hamilton County prosecutor Charlie Minor playing audio of the mother's statement to police.
Sitting in the courtroom, the parents were forced to relive the tragedy of July 12, 2010, when the 5-year-old found a loaded .45 caliber revolver in the master bedroom nightstand and shot his stepsister in the chest.
On the recording, Samantha Wallace explained that her two older children owned guns and had been taught how and when to properly use them.
"He has a .22 Chipmunk that his daddy had when he was a kid and he's shot that gun probably five, six, seven, eight times," the mother said, according to WCRB. "We sat them all down and they know not to touch the gun unless momma and daddy are around."
Prosecutors have charged both 24-year-old Samantha and 27-year-old Thomas Wallace with negligent homicide for leaving two loaded weapons in reach of the children. The parents could each spend eight years in jail if convicted.
Watch this video from WRCB, broadcast June 5, 2013.
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