Mother speaks out after 3-year-old accidentally shoots hand with gun left unattended; relative charged with child neglect bonds out
By Jessica Holly, Franklin White
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WEST MIAMI-DADE, Florida (WSVN) — A South Florida mother is making a plea to other parents after her little girl shot herself with a gun that was left unattended on a couch. Now, a relative is in trouble for what happened.
Surveillance video on Sunday showed the moment Serenity ran to the couch and grabbed the gun inside of her family’s apartment in Southwest Miami-Dade.
Warneicia Williams, Serenity’s mother, spoke with 7News on Wednesday about the chilling footage
“I just kept rewatching it, I just kept replaying it, replaying, it, because I’m like, ‘How can this happen?’” she said. “I’m just grateful my daughter is alive, because if you watch the video, the gun was pointed at her chest.”
As Serenity began playing with the gun, she accidentally fired the gun and shot her hand.
“The bullet went straight through her finger,” Williams said. “Her hand stopped the bullet. Her hand saved her life.”
Serenity on Tuesday was released from the hospital and is now home recovery just days after that terrifying close call.
According to Miami-Dade Police, a relative was distracted while watching a football game and left the loaded gun on the couch.
Serenity’s brother, Benjamin, saw what happened next.
“When I was at daddy’s house, Reni touched the gun, and I seen a lot of blood on the floor, and it was red,” he said. “And I was crying, then Reni went to the doctor.”
She spent two nights at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital, where she underwent surgery on her hand.
Meanwhile, police took Orlando Young to jail and charged him with child neglect.
“Yes, I do feel bad for Orlando. I feel bad for him, because it wasn’t intentional, he didn’t do it intentional,” Williams said, “so, yes, I understand, but at the end of the day, it was careless.”
Careless with a loaded gun could have taken a child’s life in an instant.
“It’s not OK. Leaving guns on couches with one [bullet] in the chamber is not OK,” Williams said. “It’s not no accident; that was careless. People who have guns, put them away if kids are in the house. Please put them away. Like, my baby could have died.”
Williams and Serenity’s father were both working when the shooting happened.
Police said Young has picked up an additional charge after being accused of throwing punches at another inmate.
Wednesday night, Young bonded out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in West Miami-Dade. He declined to address the incident but denied the child neglect part of his charge.
His arraignment is set for Oct. 24.
A GoFundMe page has been created to help Serenity’s family with her mounting medical bills. If you would like to make a donation, click here: gofundme.com/f/helping-serenity-to-a-full-recovery
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