NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Law enforcement authorities in New Jersey have had to consider whether to charge adults whose young children accidentally shot themselves or other children several times in the last few years.
It’s a question faced roughly once a week around the U.S., according to an investigation by USA TODAY Network and The Associated Press .
The investigation found that 152 children died from accidental shootings from 2014 to 2016.
About half of those deaths led to a criminal charge, usually against adults. In other cases, officials decided the parents hadn’t broken laws, or perhaps had suffered enough. Punishment also differed depending on state laws.
New Jersey has had four reported fatal shootings in the last four years in which children 10 and under either accidentally shot themselves or were shot by another child.
Two have resulted in prison terms for adults. The father of an 8-year-old girl who accidentally shot herself in December faces charges, and a fourth case is under investigation.
Here is a look at those four deaths:
___
Anthony Senatore admitted having a loaded rifle and four shotguns unsecured in his Toms River house near ammunition in April 2013.
His 4-year-old son found the .22-caliber rifle in Senatore’s bedroom, took it outside and shot 6-year-old Brandon Holt once in the head, killing him.
Senatore’s attorney said Senatore had stashed the gun under his bed a few days before the shooting after hearing a noise late at night that he thought might be a burglar.
Senatore pleaded guilty to second- and third-degree child endangerment and was sentenced to three years in prison in 2015.
___
Itiyanah Spruill’s 4-year-old son Christopher Lassiter was fascinated by Captain America and other superheroes and wanted to be a doctor someday. His life was cut short last June when he was accidentally shot and killed by his 5-year-old brother in their East Orange apartment.
Spruill pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child endangerment and was sentenced last fall to a year in jail.
The gun belonged to Spruill. Authorities didn’t say how it came to be in the 5-year-old’s possession in the apartment.
___
Authorities in southern New Jersey say a police officer left his personal .357-caliber revolver loaded and unsecured on a shelf before his 8-year-old daughter fatally shot herself last December.
In January, the Camden County prosecutor’s office charged Stratford police officer Kenneth Righter with three counts of child endangerment as well as the disorderly persons offense of storage of firearms if minors may have access.
The girl was found unresponsive on the afternoon of New Year’s Eve. Her mother took her to the hospital, where she died from her wounds.
Authorities haven’t said how the shooting occurred but concluded that only family members were in the house at the time of the shooting.
___
A 10-year-old Pennsylvania boy visiting relatives in Newark died after being accidentally shot by an 11-year-old.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said the 11-year-old was holding a gun when it accidentally fired, striking Josiah Coleman inside a third-floor apartment early on the morning of March 18.
No charges have been filed in connection with the boy’s death, and the Essex County prosecutor’s office said it is continuing to investigate.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.