Shocking statistic 'o the day
by digby
More than 1500 gun deaths since Newtown.
If you click the link you can see the details of each one. Horrible. Here's just one:
Jamarcus Allen was a typical 4-year-old boy. He was a ball of energy, loved superheroes and had a curiosity about guns.
Just last week, his mother said, Jamarcus found his father’s pistol when it was supposed to be hidden in a bathroom of their Akron home. Jamella Allen said she scolded Jamarcus and demanded that her husband get rid of the gun.
On Wednesday morning, it appears that same gun was fired, the bullet piercing the head of Jamarcus. He died at Akron Children’s Hospital.
Jamella Allen, 42, spoke Wednesday afternoon, just hours after learning her son was dead.
She recounted the gun story and how she demanded that her husband take the firearm from the house. Now, she is left mourning and wondering why and how her son died.
“I don’t know. I’m going crazy wondering what happened,” Jamella Allen said.
Police have charged the boy’s father, Terrance Allen, with involuntary manslaughter, felony child endangering, having weapons under disability and tampering with evidence.
Terrance Allen, 48, was driving a Ford Taurus at South Arlington Street and Davies Avenue when he suddenly pulled over. Police said he waved down a Summit County sheriff’s deputy who happened to be driving nearby about 9:30 a.m. A witness said he saw the father on the ground with the boy on his chest.
“The cop approached the vehicle and the guy just laid on the ground and he had a child in his arms,” said Robert Leslie, who noticed the commotion while working at Monro Muffler on South Arlington Street. “He was talking to the guy, I don’t know what he was asking him, and then all of a sudden, the officer finally yanked really hard, grabbed the [boy] and ran to the ambulance and the ambulance just took off like crazy.”
Jamarcus was pronounced dead at 10:30 a.m. at Akron Children’s Hospital.
A bullet hole through the roof of the car was clearly visible. The hole was above the rear passenger seat, where a pool of blood could be seen. It appears the bullet was fired inside the sedan and exited through the roof.
Police Lt. Rick Edwards said investigators recovered a gun inside the man’s sedan.
“It appears the child got ahold of the gun and shot accidentally inside the car,” Edwards said.
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