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Couple responsible for 4-year-old’s death receives no jail time

Posted at 4:51 PM, Apr 19, 2018
and last updated 2018-04-19 18:13:28-04

ORANGE COUNTY, Va. -- An Orange County couple found responsible for the death of a 4-year-old boy killed inside their home, will not receive any jail time.

Cole James Clark accidentally shot himself inside the couple’s home on May 15, 2017.

The babysitter, Heather Massey, pleaded guilty to felony cruelty and injury to a child in January. Nicholas Stoia, who was not home at the time of the incident, pleaded guilty to the amended charge of misdemeanor reckless handling of a firearm.

Massey and Stoia were sentenced Thursday inside of Orange County Circuit Court. Massey was sentenced to a 5-year suspended sentence, with no active jail time. Stoia was sentenced to a 12-month suspended sentence, with no active jail time.

Heather Massey, Cole James Clark, Nicholas Stoia

The incident happened at the couple’s Cecilia Lane home, which was being used as a daycare.

The 4-year-old was one four children at the home, when he somehow obtained a gun and shot himself.

The gun belonged to Storia, who was a Stafford County Sheriff’s Office recruit at the time, according to officials. The gun involved in the incident was not a service weapon, investigators added.

Massey said she did not know her fiancé kept a gun in their bedside table, WVIR reports.

Clark was pronounced dead at the scene.

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