4-Year-Old Boy Accidentally Shot and Killed by Older Brother: Authorities

What to Know

  • A 5-year-old boy accidentally shot his young brother with his mother's gun.
  • The 4-year-old victim died hours after the shooting.
  • His mother is charged with a weapons violation and endangering the welfare of a child.

A 5-year-old boy playing with a gun accidentally shot and killed his 4-year-old brother in their New Jersey home Saturday morning, authorities said.

The child's mother, Itiyanah Spruill, 22, was charged later in the day with a weapons violation and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said. She was being held at Essex County Jail in lieu of $310,000 bail.

The shooting occurred around 11:15 a.m. at a Norman Street residence in East Orange, a city spokesperson said.

The child underwent surgery for a head wound at University Hospital in Newark, but died about three hours later, authorities said.

The city spokesperson said the gun belonged to the boy's mother. It was not immediately known how the child got the gun. The mother was home at the time of the shooting, the spokesperson said.

There was no information on whether Spruill had obtained a lawyer who could comment on the charges.

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