DELTONA -- Sheriff's investigators filed a criminal complaint affidavit Wednesday with the State
Attorney's Office charging 29-year-old Tracy DeCarr, the mother of the 3-year-old injured in Tuesday's accidental shooting incident, with child neglect and leaving firearms within access of a minor.
"The toddler squeezed the trigger and the weapon discharged, causing a grazing wound to the chest," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said of the 9:22 a.m. Tuesday incident. "Family members drove the boy to Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City."
Investigators recovered the .40 caliber Glock and a bullet from the boy's bedroom. DeCarr told deputies that the gun belonged to her brother, who lets her use it for home defense.
The Sheriff's Office learned of the shooting after the hospital called to request that an officer respond to the emergency room.
The shooting occurred inside the boy's home on Concert Road, Davidson said. The boy's mother and uncle
were home at the time.
"Deputies are interviewing family members... to find out who owns the gun, where it was kept and how the
boy got access to it," Davidson said.
While the injury isn't considered life-threatening, the toddler was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children in Orlando for follow-up medical care.