A father is being charged with negligence causing death after his 2-year-old was seen holding a gun and his 5-year-old was shot.
25-year-old Jahbar Scott faces charges of negligence causing the death of his 5-year-old son and possession of cocaine, according to the Marion County Prosecutor.
Indianapolis police officers responded to a home near Sherman Drive and East 10th Street May 12 after getting a report that someone had been shot.
Police say a 5-year-old boy was seen with a gunshot wound and was sent to the hospital where he later died. That boy was identified as Hakiem Scott by the Marion County Coroner’s Office.
Police say they found a 9mm handgun and cocaine after executing a search warrant. The parents of the boy were also brought in for questioning by police.
Scott told police that he and his two sons were sitting on the couch watching TV when set his gun down on the side of the couch. Court documents said he was having stomach issues, so he told his wife, Mariah Steuer, to keep an eye on the kids while he went to the bathroom.
Scott was in the restroom when he heard the gunshot from the living room.
Steuer told detectives she was on the phone with a friend in the kitchen when she heard the gunshot. She hung up and called 911.
Scott also told police that the cocaine he found wasn’t his and that we was holding it for a friend. His wife claims that they were both using, and kept it on a tray in their bedroom.
