In the wake of the shooting death of 1-year-old Kylin Brooks, South Bend officials are pleading with the public to practice safer habits around firearms.
In court documents filed this week, police say Kylin was shot by one of his 2-year-old cousins when the other toddler came across a gun owned by Kylin’s uncle Joseph Troupe.
Troupe allegedly slept on the floor with the gun under his pillow and then left the room for a while, but forgot to take the gun with him, enabling the two young children to come into contact with it.
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said Kylin’s death is the fifth time since 2020 a child has died after being shot on accident by themself or another child. It’s the 16th instance a child has been injured in an accidental shooting in that time frame.
“Gosh darn it folks. We’ve got to take that responsibility, especially around children," Cotter said. "Mr. Troupe, not an evil person. But now he’s paying for what he failed to do and keeping that gun secured.”
South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski said gun locks are one simple way to secure firearms and they are available for free at the police department’s headquarters. The police chief added the fact that gun locks or safes are so easily available makes Kylin’s death even more of a tragedy.
"How and when does it stop? When does it end? How do we make this end?" Ruszkowski said. "Now we have somebody potentialyl losing many, many years of their life in prison on something that could have...should have been avoided."
Troupe faces 20 to 40 years in prison if he’s convicted of neglect of a minor resulting in death.
In May 2022, Kyler Nowlin Jackson, 5, was killed by a 9-year-old relative while the two were playing with a firearm on the westside of South Bend.
Most recently in March of this year, Donnie Gray Jr., 15, was killed at the Prairie Apartments when he was shot by a 16-year-old. The 16-year-old is charged with reckless homicide in connection to Donnie's death and officials seek to have the teenager tried as an adult.
