FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (WTVR) -The mother of a four-year-old boy was arrested after the child shot himself in the hand, according to a police report.
“The preliminary investigation indicates that the child victim and his 8-year-old brother were visiting their mother at her apartment when the shooting occurred,” Fredericksburg Police wrote in a media advisory.
The child, who shot himself Sunday afternoon in a Lafayette Blvd apartment, is expected to be okay.
The child’s mother, 29-year-old Melissa Pendleton, is charged with felony child neglect and allowing a child access to a firearm. Pendleton’s boyfriend, 31-year-old Jemmell Conway, is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, felony child neglect, and allowing a child access to a firearm.
Both are being held in Rappahannock Regional Jail. The children were released to their paternal grandparents, who already have legal custody, police said.
