Mar 31, 2008 4:46 pm US/Eastern
Mother, Brother Charged In Boy's Fatal Shooting
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
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Liquarry Jefferson, 8, was shot in the abdomen and died June 24.
CBS
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He was shot in his family's second-floor apartment on Seaver Street.
WBZ
Liquarry Jefferson's mother and brother were indicted Monday in the shooting death of the 8-year-old in Dorchester last summer.
Jefferson was shot in the abdomen in his bedroom of the second-floor apartment on Seaver Street June 24.
At the time, Boston Police said his 7-year-old cousin was responsible.
Jefferson's mother, Lakeisha Gadson, 31, and his brother, Jayquan McConnico, 16, were formally indicted Monday. Gadson faces several charges, including involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, unlawful possession of a firearm and misleading police.
McConnico, Jefferson's brother, also faces a number of charges, including involuntary manslaughter and misleading police.
The shooting, according to police, was an accident, but the gun that fired the shot, was illegal.
"The facts are both shocking and sad," District Attorney Daniel Conley said. "Shocking because the actions that led to Liquarry's death were so reckless and the consequences so predictable, and sad because an 8-year-old boy lost his life because the two people who should have been most concerned with his care and protection were utterly derelict in their duties."
According to Conley, Gadson told police three hooded men had stormed her apartment and fired three rounds, hitting her son. Gadson allegedly told McConnico and others in the home to repeat the fabricated story to police.
McConnico told several different stories, Conley said. First, he told state police during a 911 call that someone had shot Jefferson through a window. He told Boston police – after allegedly giving authorities a false name – that one man entered the home and shot his brother. The next morning, officials say McConnico told police that three intruders entered the home and fired twice, killing his brother.
Both Gadson and McConnico later admitted to lying to police and went on to say Jeffers and his cousin were playing in McConnico's room where the illegal gun was allegedly stored in a dresser drawer. That's when they say they heard gunfire.
According to the D.A.'s office, McConnico and Gadson hid the gun and ammunition in the back hall and then devised the story to tell police.
"The evidence we've developed in the course of the past nine months suggests that the defendants obtained an unregistered firearm and stored it unsecured in a low dresser drawer in a room readily accessible to children," Conley said. "That wanton, reckless behavior led predictably to the tragic - and entirely preventable - death of Liquarry Jefferson."
Police say Gadson was in the apartment during the shooting.
Gadson is scheduled to be arraigned on April 4. McConnico will be arraigned on April 7.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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