HOUSTON – An arrest warrant has been issued for a father following his 10-year-old child’s death in November of 2022 at a Pasadena apartment complex, according to court records.
Lyndon Maurice Williams, 42, has been charged with a misdemeanor of making a firearm accessible to a child causing death after the fatal shooting of Lyndon Williams Jr.
Recommended Videos
The accidental shooting was reported on Nov. 27, at an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Red Bluff Road.
According to records, prior to the fatal shooting, Williams had his three children, including Williams Jr., for the weekend after exchanging custody with the children’s mother.
When Williams and his girlfriend returned from getting food and leaving the children alone at the apartment, they were caught playing with their father’s revolver style handgun, which was left in plain view on a shelf in the closet of the suspect’s bedroom, documents read.
Williams told investigators he did not know if the gun was in a safe place or resting on the shelf next to the safe when the children found it. He said he took the gun from the children, verbally disciplined them and explained the dangers of playing with a gun. Williams reportedly put the gun under his mattress in his bedroom because the gun safe did not lock.
The morning of the shooting, records show that the girlfriend saw the gun again on the coffee table of the living room, next to where Williams Jr. was lying. She thought he was just sleeping. A short time later, Williams said he found his son and discovered that he had been shot in the head and not breathing.
When investigators arrived at the scene, they found the child “cold to the touch” in the living room of the apartment where he was pronounced dead.
During the investigation, Williams’ second son told detectives that his brother sneaked back into their father’s room after they went to sleep and came back with the gun. He reportedly saw Williams Jr. playing with the gun while sitting on the living room couch and his sister was sleeping on the other side of the couch.
The brother then said when Williams Jr. put the gun on the table, he picked up the gun to play with it and that it accidentally discharged and struck his brother in the head, documents read. The boy said he ran into another room in fear.
Investigators said the gun did not make a loud enough noise to wake anyone up when it discharged.
The boy’s sister told investigators that she saw her brother on the floor and initially thought he was sleeping but later saw that he was shot and not breathing. The girl said she was also scared to tell her parents about her brother.
According to court records, investigators found that the gun was loaded and there was a spent cartridge case to the right of the space in line with the firing pin and two additional live rounds removed from the gun.
Prosecutors said Williams failed to secure the gun and prevent access to it by his children, which led to the child’s death.