Officials have identified the baby who was shot and killed on Tuesday afternoon as 1-year-old Kylin Brooks.
Brooks was found shot on Tuesday around 1 p.m. on Amhurst Avenue near Erskine Golf Course. First responders took him to the hospital where he died on Wednesday morning.
On Wednesday afternoon, St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter announced the state has filed criminal charges against Kylin’s uncle Joseph Troupe. Troupe, 19, was taking care of Kylin and two other small children at the house and allegedly slept with a loaded gun under his pillow.
Cotter said that at one point when Troupe left the room, one of Kylin’s 2-year-old cousins got a hold of the gun and apparently shot Kylin by accident.
Troupe is charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death, which carries a sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison if he is convicted.
According to Cotter, there have been 16 incidents where children have gotten access to a firearm and shot themselves or another child by accident since 2016. Five of those 16 incidents have resulted in a death.
