A Louisiana father awoke to find his two-year-old son dying from a gunshot wound after the toddler pulled a weapon from under a pillow while the dad slept.

Devonte Chambers, 29, told police he had been smoking marijuana before taking the little boy into a bedroom of the Baton Rouge home for a nap shortly before 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Chambers then fell asleep while watching a movie before the child saw the gun’s magazine sticking out from under the pillow inside the home on Sora Street.

Paramedics found the toddler, also named Devonte, with a bullet hole in his upper torso before taking him to a local hospital, where he was declared dead.

‘The dad had his gun out and his two-year-old son was playing with his gun and accidentally shot himself,’ said Lieutenant L’Jean McNeely of the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Devonte Chambers, 29, has been charged with the negligent homicide of his two-year-old son

Devonte Chambers, 29, has been charged with the negligent homicide of his two-year-old son

Chambers was asleep at his home in Baton Rouge when the little boy found a gun under his father's pillow, pulled it out and fatally shot himself

Chambers was asleep at his home in Baton Rouge when the little boy found a gun under his father’s pillow, pulled it out and fatally shot himself 

Chambers’ grandfather, Richard Brown, was cooking in the kitchen of the home when he heard a gunshot and saw his grandson come out of the bedroom holding the fatally injured boy, he told WVLA.

‘Oh my God my baby had been shot, Lord have mercy,’ he said.

‘I feel very terrible about this.’

Police the gun had been bought by Chambers and had an extended magazine, which may have been sticking out from under the pillow. 

Chambers was arrested and charged with negligent homicide at East Baton Rouge Parish Prison where he is being held on a $75,000 bond. 

Less than five months ago, and 15 blocks to the south, another Baton Rouge parent awoke to the sound of a gunshot when her young son shot himself with an unsecured weapon.

Arieana Scott, 22, had the gun stored in a closet of the home in 69th Avenue and told police she awoke at 9:30 a.m. on March 20 to the sound of a gunshot.

Prosecutors claim she called out for the four-year-old boy but went back to sleep after hearing no reply.

When Scott eventually got up, she found the boy critically injured with a bullet hole in his shoulder.

It was revealed that the mother tried to claim she didn’t know where the gun came from because she had felony criminal record, according to WBRZ.

She then admitted having the unsecured handgun in her bedroom closet, though she does not know how the four-year-old got to it, police said.

When police arrived and located the gun, they obtained a warrant to search Scott’s home.

They found a loaded .40 caliber Glock handgun equipped with a ‘switch’ that could convert the gun into an automatic weapon and a shell casing was found in the boy’s bedroom.

Police found a large bag of marijuana that had been packaged in smaller baggies for distribution.

The child's great-grandfather was in the house when he heard the fatal shot ring out

The child’s great-grandfather was in the house when he heard the fatal shot ring out

Lieutenant L'Jean McNeely of the Baton Rouge PD said the child had been playing with the gun

Lieutenant L’Jean McNeely of the Baton Rouge PD said the child had been playing with the gun

Arieana Scott, 22, allegedly went back to sleep after hearing her four-year-old shoot himself

Arieana Scott, 22, allegedly went back to sleep after hearing her four-year-old shoot himself

At some point on the morning of March 20 around 9:30am, the boy shot himself with the unsecured, illegal, modified handgun at Scott's Baton Rouge home

At some point on the morning of March 20 around 9:30am, the boy shot himself with the unsecured, illegal, modified handgun at Scott’s Baton Rouge home

Scott again initially tried to make up a story, alleging that it was her boyfriend’s personal stash, before admitting she knew it wasn’t for individual use.

There is no legal requirement in Louisiana for guns in a home to be secured.

But police charged Scott with improper supervision of a minor by a parent, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of certain felonies, and possession of a machine gun.



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