Florida Mother Charged With Manslaughter After Toddler Son Shoots His Father; Gun Was Not Properly Stored

A Florida mom has been charged with manslaughter after her toddler fatally shot his father.

On May 26, police came to the Orlando home of 28-year-old Marie Rose Ayala after receiving a call that a man had been shot, CNN reports. When they arrived, they found Ayala giving her husband, 26-year-old Reggie Mabry, CPR after he’d apparently been injured by a gunshot.

CNN reports that first responders immediately took him to a local hospital, but he was later pronounced dead. Following an investigation, authorities learned Mabry died from a gunshot wound to his back after initially thinking he died from a suicide attempt.

According to an affidavit, Mabry was playing a video game on his computer when a loud pop went off. The pop came from a Glock handgun that’s typically tucked in a backpack that hangs on a nail about three feet off the ground, CNN reports. According to the couple’s 5-year-old, their 2-year-old son found the gun and shot their father.

During the investigation, authorities learned that both Mabry and Ayala are both convicted felons.

“The gun was not properly stored,” the sheriff said in a news conference Monday, CNN reports. “In fact, it was easily accessible even to a 2-year-old. And the result is a tragedy in this community … that no one really can comprehend.”

Ayala has now been charged with manslaughter by culpable negligence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and violation of probation. Three children, 5, 2 and an infant, were all in the home at the