DETROIT – A mother has been convicted in the death of a five-year-old boy who accidentally shot himself while jumping on a bed in Detroit.

What happened

Officials said the boy was one of five young children left alone in a home on Greenfield Road between McNichols Road and Puritan Avenue on Detroit’s west side around 1:30 p.m. on December 9, 2023.

Detroit Police Chief James White said on the day of the shooting that the gun was left on a dresser.

“The 5-year-old takes the gun, plays with the gun, jumps up and down on the bed, turns the gun on himself, shoots himself in the face and dies at the scene,” White said.

His parents, Halisa Lloydnette-Christine Brown and Sturlin Markese Minion Sr., were taken into custody.

Child welfare services were called to take care of the other four children in the house.

“How many times have I said this?” White asked. “This is absolutely unacceptable, and this is where we are now.”

Costs for parents

Four days after the shooting, both Brown and Minion were charged with manslaughter, three counts of second-degree child abuse and four counts of firearms violations.

The 33-year-old Minion was also charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Both parents were forced to post $250,000 bail and were banned from possessing alcohol or weapons and from having contact with their children, including their own.

Mother convicted

Brown, 25, was sentenced on Friday, August 9, 2024.

She must spend six months in the Wayne County Jail, three years’ probation, and pay a $1,898 fine or community service.

Brown was given credit for four days of his prison sentence.

Minion is scheduled to be sentenced in September.