Suspect charged in death of 3-year-old was barred from possessing guns
The gun that a 3-year-old boy unintentionally shot and killed himself with in Milwaukee on Saturday belonged to a relative who was out on bail on armed robbery charges and was barred from possessing dangerous weapons.
Prosecutors on Wednesday charged Devon L. Armour, 26, of Menasha with second-degree reckless homicide, possession of a firearm by a felon and two counts of bail jumping.
Armour was charged with armed robbery in Waukesha County in March and was released from custody after signing a $10,000 signature bond May 6, according to online court records. He was forbidden from possessing dangerous weapons as a condition of his release.
Two days after signing that bond, Armour visited his cousin’s home along the 3100 block of W. Michigan Street, in the Merrill Park neighborhood of Milwaukee, while armed, according to a criminal complaint.
He and other witnesses told police he put the gun on a kitchen table where Cire J. Walker was seated, the complaint said. While his mother briefly left the house to take out some garbage, the child reached for the gun and unintentionally shot himself.
In reaction to the shooting, Mayor Tom Barrett on Monday said guns are too accessible even for those who are barred from owning them, such as felons.
“There’s too many guns,” Barrett said during a tour of a COVID-19 vaccination clinic. “There are too many felons who have guns, and a little boy has died. And it’s heartbreaking. Right before Mother’s Day, I just can’t imagine.
“People have a right under the Second Amendment to have a gun, I support that,” Barrett said. “But you have to also have in place sensible laws to make sure that minors, felons, people who are dangerous, do not have access to guns. We are failing miserably there
“People have a right under the Second Amendment to have a gun, I support that. But you have to also have in place sensible laws to make sure that minors, felons, people who are dangerous, do not have access to guns.” Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett
and we need more enforcement, and we need to have the laws change, no question.”
Since the shooting, both the Milwaukee fire and police departments have stressed that members of the public can obtain free gun locks, with no questions asked and no paperwork to fill out, at their police district and firehouse locations.
In 2019, there were 241 unintended shootings by children in the U.S., causing more than 100 deaths, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. According to the complaint: Armour and another relative visited the home of his cousin after attending a funeral in Milwaukee on May 8. At least four people were inside the home at the time, including Cire and two other children, ages 12 and 14.
Both Armour and the relative came to the home armed, the 14-year-old later told police.
That evening, the 12-year-old was helping make egg sandwiches while Cire was sitting at a kitchen table. Cire’s mother, who told police she never saw a gun in the house, told police she stepped outside to dispose of some garbage when she heard a gunshot.
Armour later told police he put a handgun on the kitchen table while knowing there were children around who could access it. The 12-year-old told police he saw Cire reach for something on the table, followed by a bang.