MIAMI – A woman and her boyfriend are facing charges after the man accidentally shot her 5-year-old daughter Tuesday at their home in Miami, authorities said.
Jonathan Craig, 41, faces charges of child abuse, aggravated battery and drug trafficking.
The victim's mother, Tralliney Coleman, 43, faces charges of child neglect, drug trafficking, failing to keep a firearm in safe storage away from a minor and providing law enforcement officials with false information.
According to Craig's arrest report, Craig, who lives with Coleman and her three children, said he saw armed men walking outside his apartment complex near Northwest 12th Avenue and Northwest 66th Street about 1 a.m. Tuesday. Craig picked up a handgun and repeatedly manipulated the slide of the gun, causing one of the children to ask him to leave the living room, the report said.
Craig then took the weapon into their mother's bedroom, the report said.
The three children fell asleep on the futon in the living room, but were awoken by the sound of a gunshot just before 3 a.m., the report said. Sasha Wheelers, 5, had been shot in the back.
Craig reportedly screamed, "Oh no. Damn. Damn," and ran to the mother's bedroom.
According to the report, Sasha's mother confronted Craig, saying, "You did this!" Craig replied, "I f**ked up," the report said.
When officers arrived, the mother was cradling Sasha in her arms. Paramedics took Sasha to Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center, where she is listed in critical but stable condition.
According to Coleman's arrest report, the woman initially told detectives that she had no idea how her daughter had been shot nor who shot her.
Police said they went into the home and saw a severe roach infestation in the kitchen, bathroom, closets and living room.
The futon shared by the three children was also heavily infested and the sheets on it appeared worn and discolored, the report stated.
According to authorities, the children's clothes were kept in dirty storage bins that were also infested with roaches.
Police said they found a bag of heroin in the main bedroom after searching the home. A gun was also found on the second shelf of the nightstand and was loaded with 13 rounds, police said.
Detectives said Coleman later admitted that her boyfriend was the person who shot her daughter and said he had placed the gun near the TV stand.
Craig and Coleman are currently being held without bond at Miami-Dade County's Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
In court Wednesday, a Miami-Dade County judge ordered Coleman's other two children to undergo trauma therapy and said she wanted them to be back in school Thursday. She also ordered a petition to be started to terminate Coleman's parental rights.
Coleman's children are now in the care of the Department of Children and Families. A relative is being considered for full-time custody of the children.
"The family isn't alright right now, but we're surviving," Sasha's older sister, Luxury Rose, said.
Craig has been ordered to have no contact with Coleman and the victim.