RICHMOND, Va. -- Police have made an arrest after a three-year-old child was shot last week at an apartment complex on Richmond's East End.
Officers were called to the 1900 block of Raven Street around 9:45 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 16 for a report of a shooting.
When police arrived, they found a 3-year-old boy suffering from an apparent gunshot wound who had been brought to the walkway of an apartment complex, according to a Richmond Police spokesperson.
The child, who Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett was shot in the neck, was taken to an area hospital by ambulance and officials said his injury was "no longer considered life-threatening."
Joshua Aaron Reilly, 29, was arrested Wednesday, according to online court records.
Police said Reilly was charged with one misdemeanor: allowing access to firearms by a child and two felonies: possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance and possession of a firearm while in possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance. But police said aditional charges could be filed.
"The misdemeanor charge is the default charge if you leave a firearm where a child can have access to it,” defense attorney Todd Stone, a legal analyst for WTVR CBS 6, told Burkett. “The next question is was their gross negligence or a higher level in leaving the firearm out and was there a serious injury to the three-year old. If the answers to both are yes, then it can be upgraded to a felony that comes with 10 years in prison.”
Reilly, who is being held at the Richmond City Jail, has a list of traffic and criminal violations that includes a prior child abuse charge in Henrico County that was reduced to a misdemeanor contributing charge. That is one of several charges where he had time suspended.
"Additionally, if he has prior convictions for felonies, there's almost always suspended time attached,” Stone explained. “So it's easier for a prosecutor to revoke that time and give him some of that suspended time on a show cause."
Neighbors told Burkett that they have not seen anyone at the apartment since the day of the shooting
Many of them added it was hard to see the little boy carried off and they a're glad someone is being held accountable.
"The charge that he's facing is a negligent-based charge,” Stone said. “It has nothing to do with malice, but there's higher levels of negligence that can require felony charges and more time in prison, and that's something I expect prosecutors are looking at."
Officials previously said officers believed the child was "injured accidentally while in an apartment" and that detectives were "not currently looking for any suspects."
Anyone with information about the case was asked to call Major Crimes Detective D. Davenport at 804-646-4494 or contact Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
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