GA - Millie Drew Kelly, 6, shot dead by 4-year-old brother, Paulding County, 10 Apr 2019

[Amonet]

I absolutely agree with the comments about gun safety around children. I also think that in some cases like this the parent has suffered the greatest punishment they ever could and prison isn't going to help anything. All it would do is take the mother away from the traumatized son and possibly have a high-suicide-risk woman in prison. I think justice is only truly served when the bigger picture is taken into consideration.

 

[Revantheonly]

First off what was the caliber? Secondly did the police do a GSR test on the mom? And Lastly if a kid is in the back seat how does he undo the seatbelt and get to the console of the car and get the gun and pull the trigger without getting himself hurt by it because the recoil would harm him really badly?

 

[Lion]

I am not anti gun, but I do not have a hand gun and this is the very reason why. There are so many unanswered questions I have about the actual accident and how it all went down. So many what ifs and whys...

That said, I know and love this family. All of them... parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... are such good, sweet people. And I can tell you this: the pain they are suffering right now is worse than any pain ever imaginable. My heart is absolutely broken for this mama that I have known since she was a little girl, who now mourns the loss of her only little girl. There is no punishment, no charge, no unmerciful online comment that holds a candle to the pain in her heart right now. I can't describe the anguish of seeing your beautiful child in the aftermath of such an injury. They are so unbelievably broken, y'all.
It's difficult for me to put myself in their shoes... as I could never have a gun near my babies. But it's even more difficult to wear those shoes that are being consumed by grief right now. I simply cannot judge her actions knowing that she'd do it all differently if she could. I'm praying that they use this to advocate for gun safety. I'm praying for even a inkling of decrease of heartache. I'm praying I never have to hurt like I've watched my friend and her family hurt.

This is so very, very hard.

I understand where you are coming from fully, its just while she is going through all that anguish and everything she needs to realize this could and would have been prevented, she now has only one child and the facts are how do you just dont keep guns near babies, also the story doesnt add up, i am no where near being disrespectful, this is just how the internet and the public/media are gonna look at this case because its been seen before. Very sad event! All this pain the family is going through could have and would have been prevented point blank! I do hope the family and friends are okay and they get better!

 

[Revantheonly]

I am not anti gun, but I do not have a hand gun and this is the very reason why. There are so many unanswered questions I have about the actual accident and how it all went down. So many what ifs and whys...

That said, I know and love this family. All of them... parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins... are such good, sweet people. And I can tell you this: the pain they are suffering right now is worse than any pain ever imaginable. My heart is absolutely broken for this mama that I have known since she was a little girl, who now mourns the loss of her only little girl. There is no punishment, no charge, no unmerciful online comment that holds a candle to the pain in her heart right now. I can't describe the anguish of seeing your beautiful child in the aftermath of such an injury. They are so unbelievably broken, y'all.
It's difficult for me to put myself in their shoes... as I could never have a gun near my babies. But it's even more difficult to wear those shoes that are being consumed by grief right now. I simply cannot judge her actions knowing that she'd do it all differently if she could. I'm praying that they use this to advocate for gun safety. I'm praying for even a inkling of decrease of heartache. I'm praying I never have to hurt like I've watched my friend and her family hurt.

This is so very, very hard.

I feel bad too but we don’t know if there was malicious intent or not there has to be a full forensic exam done to excuse any external factors for the whole thing I personally don’t think it is possible for a four year old to even pull the trigger of a gun i have tried at that age even with a toy gun it wasn’t possible to do so. So in my opinion there should be more of an investigation I really do not think that the little boy could have done it.

 

[Revantheonly]

Also if the little boy was moving around in the vehicle she would've noticed by feeling the vibrations and the rocking of the car. Why was the gun loaded because it is federal law to have the gun unloaded while traveling and in a locked case. Furthermore, If this whole situation was not planned then why would she not want to talk to someone about it and basically keep quiet? If the boy did it and he grew up and realized that he did it he would probably want to commit suicide. I know if I killed my sister at a young age and I found out that I killed her when I got older I would. The boy is going to need serious help also depending of the caliber of the gun, it would've been too heavy for the boy to hold. Also, does the mother have a license to own and transport a weapon? Does she know gun safety laws? Does she know how to properly take care of a weapon? In my opinion from analyzing the whole situation, to me it is clear that someone and not the boy killed the little girl who didn't get to experience life, the boy is going to be depressed and want to die because he is going to think that he killed his sister, while someone is getting away with murder. There should be a full investigation on this situation and not just shut the investigation down. The sheriffs are going to have to reopen the case it is way to convenient that the car would break down and then the mother would get out to see what is wrong with the car when most people don't know what the difference between a car battery is from the alternator of the car. The facts behind the situation and what happen are inconsistent with what actually happened. A four-year-old's aim with a handgun would be really bad and would not hit that accurately in the right side of the head unless it was pointblank range or right to the skin of the wound.

 

[borndem]

Thanks for the comments!
And there's this:

Welcome to Websleuths,
Revantheonly !!​

 

[Lion]

Thanks for the comments!
And there's this:

Welcome to Websleuths,
Revantheonly !!​

Thank you so much for welcoming my brother!

 

[sloane7777]

Horrific. I have a little Millie too I really feel bad for this Mom, and frankly she let it happen and really should be charged , after all she broke the law, how many times have we been warned to keep guns away from small children, but on that note my heart breaks for her. We really are missing a lot of info, this happened not too long ago here in Dallas, that parent was charged.

 

[Lion]

Horrific. I have a little Millie too I really feel bad for this Mom, and frankly she let it happen and really should be charged , after all she broke the law, how many times have we been warned to keep guns away from small children, but on that note my heart breaks for her. We really are missing a lot of info, this happened not too long ago here in Dallas, that parent was charged.

Exactly. The mother stood be charged. They charge parents for their kids wandering into freezers, wandering outside at night and being found dead, and more horrific things, she should be charged too, shes the reason this happened.

 

[sloane7777]

Exactly. The mother stood be charged. They charge parents for their kids wandering into freezers, wandering outside at night and being found dead, and more horrific things, she should be charged too, shes the reason this happened.

My opinion on why some are charged and some are not , some get jail time , some don't , in this part of the woods some do serious jail time for weed , whereas its perfectly legal other places all boils down to a broken system with people in charge that are allowed to decide your fate one way or the other , I wont hijack the thread to even go down this road but you get the idea...broken

 

[AzPistonsGirl]

yep, so many variables on both sides. Not every situation is the same and nothing in life is really black and white. It is all shades of grey. One size does not fit all. And that doesn't even get into the issues @sloane7777 was alluding to. I am anti-gun, (and anti-death penalty, which has nothing to do with anything) but punitive justice? Yeah, I want some here. In addition to any feel-good campaigns or speaking this woman can do about her mistakes.

ETA: I have a lot of sympathy for this woman, for her family, for those who knew and loved these kids, and it is an internal battle sometimes to both feel very sad but also very angry. Emotions are screwy y'all.

 

[Revantheonly]

I just think that there should be a complete investigation on this

 

[borndem]

I just think that there should be a complete investigation on this

Yes -- and an investigation could make her situation better or worse -- what she was dealing with that day or something else that she won't/can't talk about. It could make it more understandable, etc. I do wonder how the townspeople are dealing with this.
As someone has already said here, it could be a situation that didn't happen at all like she said it did. But I guess we'll never know since the incident is already "in the book" and nothing more will be done on this one.
Nevertheless, a horrible thing happened that cannot be undone. I do hope the young boy and his family get counseling. How in the world could anyone handle this kind of thing?

 

[gitana1]

I absolutely agree with the comments about gun safety around children. I also think that in some cases like this the parent has suffered the greatest punishment they ever could and prison isn't going to help anything. All it would do is take the mother away from the traumatized son and possibly have a high-suicide-risk woman in prison. I think justice is only truly served when the bigger picture is taken into consideration.

There's truth in that. It should probably be a case by case basis. Someone who shows true remorse and has been a good, caring parent otherwise, versus an overall neglectful parent.

 

[gitana1]

I feel bad too but we don’t know if there was malicious intent or not there has to be a full forensic exam done to excuse any external factors for the whole thing I personally don’t think it is possible for a four year old to even pull the trigger of a gun i have tried at that age even with a toy gun it wasn’t possible to do so. So in my opinion there should be more of an investigation I really do not think that the little boy could have done it.

The investigation is over. There is nothing to suggest it wasn't thorough. It was deemed an accident. There's zero evidence that the mother was involved in anything other than negligence. Kids can and do fire handguns and can and do harm or kill others accidentally. We've seen case after case. Two years' old. Three. Four.

Child accidentally shoots mom while sitting in backseat of car outside Norwalk preschool

Pregnant mom accidentally shot in neck by 4-year-old child in Skyway

Driver Shot and Killed by Her 2-Year-Old Son

Louisiana toddler accidentally shoots mother in the back

Pro-gun Florida mom accidentally shot by 4-year-old son after leaving loaded weapon in car, bragging about how tot gets 'gets jacked up' for target practice

2-year-old child accidentally shoots himself, dies, mother says

I can go on and on and on.

Here's a whole database of unintentional shootings by kids:

https://everytownresearch.org/notanaccident/

 

[Revantheonly]

The investigation is over. There is nothing to suggest it wasn't thorough. It was deemed an accident. There's zero evidence that the mother was involved in anything other than negligence. Kids can and do fire handguns and can and do harm or kill others accidentally. We've seen case after case. Two years' old. Three. Four.

Child accidentally shoots mom while sitting in backseat of car outside Norwalk preschool

Pregnant mom accidentally shot in neck by 4-year-old child in Skyway

Driver Shot and Killed by Her 2-Year-Old Son

Louisiana toddler accidentally shoots mother in the back

Pro-gun Florida mom accidentally shot by 4-year-old son after leaving loaded weapon in car, bragging about how tot gets 'gets jacked up' for target practice

2-year-old child accidentally shoots himself, dies, mother says

I can go on and on and on.

Here's a whole database of unintentional shootings by kids:

https://everytownresearch.org/notanaccident/

Actually there is not enough evidence suggesting that it wasn’t foul play

 

[gitana1]

Actually there is not enough evidence suggesting that it wasn’t foul play

You don't need evidence suggesting that it wasn't foul play. You need evidence suggesting it was.

That's how the law works.

 

[Lion]

You don't need evidence suggesting that it wasn't foul play. You need evidence suggesting it was.

That's how the law works.

Not all the time the law works like that. People get off scott free even when theres evidence in plain view that they did indeed do the crime.

 

[gitana1]

Not all the time the law works like that. People get off scott free even when theres evidence in plain view that they did indeed do the crime.

You're not understanding. That's a different issue. That's a commentary on the judicial system, juries, etc. That has nothing to do with the actual law.

The law does not mandate that the authorities must establish that there is no evidence of a crime, in order to decide not to charge someone. That's what the original poster was in essence, stating. Once again, that is not how the law works.

Instead, they need actual evidence of foul play in order to charge someone.

You can't prove a negative. Probable cause to arrest a person means that the authorities have evidence that a crime was committed. The authorities are not required to determine there is no evidence of foul play. They have told determine if there IS.

That's how it works. That is the law.

Here is an example. Let's say two friends go hunting in the woods with one of their kids. One gets shot and killed. The other calls for help.

The surviving hunter appears suitably upset. Freaks out. He's crying. Upset. Explains that the two separated to look for deer and he thought he spotted one. Shot it but when he approached he realized it was his friend.

The authorities' job is to assess the scene. Judge the shooter's demeanor and credibility. Ask the child what he or she saw. Look at the distance and the brush cover and what the dead man was wearing.

If they find evidence that the survivor lied about where he was and his visibility when he shot the friend, if they find that actually, the two were arguing and the victim was shot at close range, then they likely have probable cause to arrest the shooter and/or for search warrants, etc.

But they don't have to search for NO evidence. They simply examine the scene and if there is evidence of foul play, then they will have probable cause to get search warrants to conduct a forensic exam of the shooter's computer, to see if he had anything to suggest he was murdered, to analyze his cell phone records or social media to see if he said or did anything to indicate hatred or plans to harm his hunting buddy, etc.

Again, when determining whether to charge a person, the law mandated they find evidence of foul play, not the other way around, and prove a negative.

Regardless, there is zero to suggest that the mother shot her child or that the authorities failed to do a comprehensive investigation. As I have proven through numerous links, four years old can and have shot people with handguns on numerous occasions. And the four year old was old enough to be able to tell what happened.

 

[borndem]

Horrific. I have a little Millie too I really feel bad for this Mom, and frankly she let it happen and really should be charged , after all she broke the law, how many times have we been warned to keep guns away from small children, but on that note my heart breaks for her. We really are missing a lot of info, this happened not too long ago here in Dallas, that parent was charged.

We have seen this happen in NC, as others here on WS have seen it in their states as well. The parents/caregivers here were charged in the cases I remember here in NC. Two boys, one a neighbor friend, had a similar incident and the parents of the child who did the shooting were charged -- but I don't remember the actual charge itself.
Guns, guns, guns. Unlocked and no trigger guard.