Houston Boy Shoots Self with Stolen Gun While Dad Slept Nearby

Houston Police Department

A Houston dad who allegedly napped on a couch while his 4-year-old son found a stolen handgun and shot himself with it has been arrested and will face charges in the boy's death.

Marquiez Deshon Pratt, 20, had his son Jaiden for the weekend when the boy shot himself on Sunday. The boy woke up and picked up his father's gun, which was lying nearby, and accidentally fired it into his stomach, according to police.

When investigators arrived at the scene they found a distraught Pratt carrying his son outside of his apartment. Pratt handed the boy over, and he ran back inside, police said. Officers performed CPR on Jaiden, while other officers pursued Pratt into the apartment, according to police.

Inside the apartment on Houston's north side, police said they found marijuana and crack cocaine, along with scales and other items used to sell drugs.

Pratt was arrested and charged with injury to a child by omission and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

Police said that the weapon Jaiden shot himself with was a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol that was taken in a 2011 burglary.