Arkansas parents charged with manslaughter after two-year-old son shoots himself

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Arkansas parents charged with manslaughter after two-year-old son shoots himself
Reuters
By Steve Barnes
2 hours ago

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Reuters) - An Arkansas couple has been charged with manslaughter after their 2-year-year old son accidentally shot himself with a .45 caliber pistol and died of a wound to his head, authorities said on Tuesday.

The parents, Phillip and Tabitha Ashley, 27 and 23 respectively, were arrested on Monday. Local media said the couple left a loaded gun unattended in the house.

Police declined to release any details but said additional charges are possible. The two, who are being held without bond in jail, have not commented on the incident.

The shooting of their son, who was not named by police, occurred on Nov. 17 at the couples’ home in Benton, Arkansas. The child was rushed to a hospital in nearby Little Rock but died of his injury.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/arkansas-parents-charged-manslaughter-two-old-son-shoots-232003603.html

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[center]

Phillip and Tabitha Ashley [/center]

[Agnosticsherbet]

1. Send them to prison. nt

[christx30]

2. I agree fully.

I hope that's an old picture of the mom, and not the mug shot. That's an awfully smug smile on her face after being arrested for her son's accidental death.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Found the mugshot in this small newspaper:

Parents Face Manslaughter Charge in Baby’s Death
 November 24, 2015





by Shannon Cay



BENTON, Ark. – Two people are behind bars, after their two year old shot himself at their home last week.

The Benton Police Department has charged the parents, 27-year-old Phillip Ashley and 23-year-old Tabitha Ashley, with manslaughter of the baby and endangering the welfare of another 6-year-old child.

According to a press release from the department, additional charges against the couple are possible. Detectives say Tabitha Ashley did test positive for painkillers and amphetamines this week.

Authorities say the mother was in the restroom when she heard the gunshot. The child was taken to a local hospital, then transferred to a hospital in Little Rock where he succumb to his injuries.


http://www.hometowndailynews.com/2015/11/24/benton-parents-face-manslaughter-charge-in-babys-death/

(Short article, no more at link.)

(You're right. I'm glad it's not the mugshot, also.)

[Ilsa]

3. I hope they never procreate again.

The world is awful enough with so much stupidity and neglect. To place another child in similar circumstances would be tragic.

[Duckhunter935]

4. Good

[kimbutgar]

5. There should be a law that these people are Banned from ever owning a gun again. Lifetime ban.

[niyad]

7. second child to die in two days there

The toddler was the second child to die in Arkansas of an accidental gunshot in as many days.

Eron Burks, aged 6, was killed as he was handling a pistol in a car driven by an aunt.

The woman, Kenya Brevard, 38, was charged by Little Rock police with manslaughter and with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Thanks for connecting these dots. Arkansas sounds like a good place to avoid. n/t

[niyad]

13. sadly, it is only one of many.

[BigDemVoter]

28. Avoid at ALL costs! I lived there for 3 years. I didn't think I would make it!

[truthisfreedom]

8. I'm not sure I can bring myself to hate these people enough to wish even more pain upon them.

Losing a 2 year old child seems like punishment enough for their stupidity.

One of them has to be more culpable than the other. I can't imagine two parents with a 2 year old making conscious decisions at the same time to leave a loaded handgun lying around.

The change in gun culture that this country so desperately needs must come from within, somehow.

This is all just so very very sad.

[Gore1FL]

15. +1 n/t

[Chemisse]

17. I agree.

There is no prison sentence that can rival the loss of your child for punishment.

[Lars39]

18. Both parents, as adults, were responsible

for ensuring that the toddler had a safe environment.

[Xyzse]

21. I agree.

This is very sad...

I don't feel like adding more of a punishment here, but can they be charged for Manslaughter but have the judgment as "Time Served"? This is so that it is on record as to what it is, but not put them through even more.

[mpcamb]

22. Community service?

Emptying bedpans? Street sweeping? Wash and polish the local fire engine every Sunday till they're having snowball fights in hell?
I'm perhaps alone in this, but jail time is pretty pointless and generally non-correcting of whatever behavior put a person there. Crappy work isn't rehabilitating either, but a lot less pointless.

[Xyzse]

23. I can definitely agree there.

You're right, especially in a case like this.

[JimDandy]

24. No, community service at the VA working with

soldiers suffering from gun shot wounds.

[mpcamb]

29. That seems appropriate and ironic at the same time.

I'm looking at a full moon out my window. Maybe that helps.
Anyway, truly Evil people should go to jail.
Stupid people, well, I guess you can hope for redemption or growth or learning from bad experience.
(I'm thinking of Homer Simpson here, burning his hand on the stove over and over again trying to get a too hot cookie.)
These people seem to be of the, for want of a better description, stupid category.
I want evil people kept from society. I'd like stupid people kept on a short leash and if parole can do anything, they can at least evaluate whether they can be integrated back into society. ( I don't hold out much hope for evil weasels, altho they're probably smart or rich enough to find their way out of jail and the parole system.) There seems to be no societal gain for incarcerating the stupid category. They just shouldn't be making a lot of decisions on their own - like having a gun in the house with a young child.

[SoCalMusicLover]

26. What Do You Suggest?

A strong warning? They're just going to bang each other and make another kid, and probably be just as careless.

Or better yet, perhaps next time it won't be their own child that dies. Maybe it will be a relative or neighbor who dies thanks to their negligence.

Start punishing these crimes, and at least you keep IDIOT gun owners off the streets, and maybe they'll be more careful in the future.

[hatrack]

9. From "Yahoo" News . . .

How fitting.

Contemptible fucksticks.

[mountain grammy]

10. I think this should be the charge in any case like this.

This is reckless endangerment of children to the extreme. The baby is dead.

[JimDandy]

11. Good. Sick of the "they've suffered enough" crap

or at worst, measly child endangerment charges.

Finally convinced my son to get his gun out of the house so his little daughter would never be in danger of death from his own weapon.

[brer cat]

20. Good for you, JimDandy.

And I agree with your other comments.

[JimDandy]

25. It took me several years. Didn't nag, but used appropriate opportunites

to persuade him. What a relief to know she, and all of us, will never have to suffer through that kind of unnecessary tragedy.

[3catwoman3]

14. Such occurrences should never be called tragic accidents.

It is negligence, pure and simple.

[Divernan]

16. Severe punishment truly could have a deterrent effect.

This is not a crime of passion. This is a crime of criminal negligence. In those crimes, severe punishment can have a deterrent effect on others.

Consider the number of people who not only are careless, irresponsible parents, but also keep guns in their cars or homes and/or have drug and/or alcohol addictions (the mother tested positive for painkillers and amphetamines). It takes multiple examples of extremely severe punishment to get through to them.

These tragedies are not limited to the children of stupid/negligent/gun-owning parents. Kids have been shot when one of their friends or classmates has brought a loaded gun to playgrounds and schools to show their friends. If my kids were not all grown up, but still pre-school through high school age, I would not allow them to go to homes/birthday parties of any of their classmates until I had vetted the other parents to make sure there were no guns on the premises. Same for arranging car pooling with other parents. Do they keep a gun in the car? Carry one on their person?
How often have we heard crap excuses from parents of dead children about how they had hidden the guns, or didn't know the guns were loaded, etc.

[ManiacJoe]

19. There is no excuse for not having proper secured storage of the gun(s).

[crim son]

33. No, there isn't. Interestingly, had one of the adults

pulled out the gun to clean it and accidentally shot one or both of their kids, it isn't likely any charges would be filed. Yet in both cases the gun owner is a MORON.

[peacebird]

27. How can the mother be smiling in her mug shot?!?

I would be inconsolable if my son were killed....

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

31. I think it's a license photo. n/m

[NickB79]

32. Post #6 shows her actual mugshot, and she's not smiling. NT

[FLPanhandle]

30. If I caused the death of my child due to my own negligence, not sure prison would phase me

I'd already be in such hell that I'd want to die.

I hope others learn from this though so prison is appropriate.