A
Chicago man has been charged with child endangerment after his three-year-old
son was shot and killed by his six-year-old brother while the two were playing
"cops and robbers".
The
six-year-old found the loaded revolver on top of the refrigerator and shot
little brother Eian Santiago in the head on Saturday evening, according to
police and the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. The older brother's name
was not disclosed.
The
boys' father, Michael Santiago, 25, was arrested and charged with child
endangerment, a felony, police said. He appeared in court on Sunday and is
being held on a $75,000 bond, according to DNAinfo.com Chicago, a local news
web site.
"He
was a beautiful kid. It's real crazy," the grandfather, Israel LaSalle,
said in a tearful interview "That's why parents should never have
guns in the house."
The
three-year-old was carried by a family member a block away to Norwegian
American Hospital, and then transported to Mount Sinai Medical Center, where he
was pronounced dead shortly before midnight, officials said.
Michael
Santiago told police he was a former member of the Spanish Cobras street gang
and had purchased the gun from a gang member for protection, said police
spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.
At
the bond hearing, Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Joseph DiBella said
the shooting happened when the children were in the care of their grandfather
while Santiago was at work and his wife was at the store with a younger child,
age one.
Santiago
had shown the six-year-old the gun a week before, telling him it was only for
adults, DiBella said. The gun had been wrapped in pajama pants.
Source:
Reuters
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