A judge reprimanded a Chicago mother for being ‘supremely negligent’ after her 8-year-old son brought her gun to school, where it went off and injured a classmate.
Tatanina Kelly, 28, was charged with three misdemeanor child endangerment counts on Wednesday, a day after her young son took the gun from underneath her bed and brought it to Walt Disney Magnet School in his backpack, .
‘We are inches away, possibly centimeters away from a very different case and a very different tragedy,’ Judge Michael Hogan told Kelly.
The horrifying incident took place just before 10am Tuesday, according to the police.
When the gun discharged in her son’s backpack the bullet grazed the abdomen of a 7-year-old boy, causing a small laceration and redness before hitting the ground, prosecutors said. The child was taken to the hospital in stable condition.
After the gun was discharged, a teacher took the backpack to the school security officers, who found a Glock 19 handgun inside, prosecutors said.
The 28-year-old mother obtained the weapon legally and has a valid firearm owner’s identification card. Her attorney acknowledged that the weapon ‘probably should have been locked up somewhere.’
‘This wasn’t something she planned or something she did of her own volition,’ defense attorney Rodger Clarke said. ‘How the kid knew there was a gun under the bed is beyond me. …It’s not like she went out and did something purposefully that violated the law.’
In response the judge criticized the mother for negligence and not storing the gun in a manner that would have prevented the boy from finding it. The judge ordered Kelly to post $1,000 bond to be released from the Cook County Jail.
Officials with the school have said they’re working with police as they investigate the situation, and that counselors have made available to talk to affected students.
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