A Florida woman has been arrested after her 4-year-old son found her handgun inside her purse and fatally shot himself, according to law enforcement.
Diamond Phillips, 29, faces a charge of culpable negligence involving a firearm, according to Manatee County court records reviewed by Law&Crime. Authorities have not released the child’s name.
The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office was called to a home on Hidden Circle East on June 21 after receiving a report that a 4-year-old boy had shot himself. When deputies arrived, they spoke with the boy’s mother, Phillips, and his grandmother, both of whom said the child had shot himself “using the mother’s gun,” a probable cause affidavit states. Despite efforts to save him, the boy was pronounced dead that same day.
As the investigation continued, detectives determined the boy had retrieved the firearm from his mother’s green Steve Madden purse, “which was located on the kitchen island,” according to the affidavit.
Investigators reconstructed the scene based on where the child’s body was found. “This conclusion is supported by the victim’s position at the scene where he was found lying” on his back “in front of the kitchen island with an apparent gunshot wound to the head above his left eye,” the affidavit reads. His feet pointed toward the island “as if he fell back away from it,” authorities noted, and a bullet fragment was later recovered from the ceiling above where he lay.
During questioning, Phillips reportedly told investigators she kept her Smith & Wesson handgun loaded in a zippered compartment of her purse, without a holster, explaining that she normally carried the firearm loaded on her person in her purse for protection while away from home.
She said she generally placed the purse on the kitchen island, microwave, or refrigerator to keep it out of her children’s reach. According to the affidavit, the mother explained the children were not allowed to eat at the kitchen island and could only access the table by climbing onto the bar stools.
Phillips also told investigators that shortly before the shooting, she overheard the boy’s grandmother warning the children to stay off the stools and away from the island. The victim’s 2-year-old brother was reportedly nearby at the time of the shooting.
Ultimately, investigators concluded that both the purse and the kitchen island were within the children’s reach, leading them to file the culpable negligence charge against Phillips. She was arrested following the investigation.
Court records show Phillips posted bond on Wednesday, September 23. Her arraignment has been scheduled for November 6.