KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 26-year-old man has been charged with second-degree child endangerment and unlawful possession of a firearm after a three-year-old girl was shot with a gun police say belonged to him inside a home on Kansas City’s east side on Wednesday, Jan. 7.
Little Ta’Riyah Davis was rushed to the hospital in critical condition from her house near Chestnut and East 38th Street.
According to the probable cause statement, Ta’Riyah’s four-year-old brother told police he found the gun that morning on the fireplace mantel in the living room. He said his father, Jesse Ross, hid the gun, a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson, behind a mirror. The boy says he took the gun into the back bedroom, where Ta’Riyah was shot.
The older brother reportedly told police the gun “made fire.”
According to court records, Ross said the gun was not his and denied knowing it was in the house.
Ta’Riyah’s mother called 911 to report her daughter had shot herself. When police arrived, they found the mother holding Ta’Riyah. Officers say there was blood on Ta’Riyah’s shirt and it was apparent she had a wound to the abdomen.
Police say Ta’Riyah’s mom told them she put the kids down for a nap and was asleep in the front bedroom when she awoke to the sound of a gunshot, rushing to find her children in the back bedroom. She said she saw Ta’Riyah with the revolver and saw that she had been shot. She called police and upon questioning, told them the gun belonged to her boyfriend, the children’s father.
According to the probable cause statement, the mother told police that on New Year’s Eve, she argued with Ross about having a gun in the house. She said he claimed he was holding it for a “homie”.
Police say the .38 special was loaded with five live rounds and one spent shell casing.
Jesse Ross is a convicted felon, who pleaded guilty to burglary in the 1st degree and parental kidnapping in 2006.
Earlier report:
