Killer jailed for just four months after three-year-old boy found his gun and shot himself dead
A KILLER has been jailed for just four months after a three-year-old boy found his gun and shot himself dead.
Toddler Tyler Burnett came across the loaded weapon at his mum's home in Little Rock, Arkansas, and pointed it at his head.
He was pronounced dead in hospital shortly afterwards.
Police said gun owner Reco Ontreal Reed, 28, grabbed it and ran out after the boy killed himself. There were two other children in the apartment at the time.
Speaking after the toddler was shot, Reed's cousin Maryanna Davis told KATV: "I was like, please don’t let that be my cousin because they play around with guns, like fake guns.
"It’s horrible, like I can’t believe it’s true. I thought I was dreaming."
Manslaughter is a Class C felony that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Reed was also handed five years on probation for manslaughter.
Under the conditions of Reed's plea agreement, negotiated by Public Defender Lou Marczuk, the more serious charge of tampering with evidence, a Class B felony with a 20-year maximum term, was dropped.
The US has one of the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among the world's most developed nations.
Thirty-one states - including Arkansas - allow the open carrying of a handgun without any licence or permit, although in some cases the gun must be unloaded.
