Man arrested in connection to shooting death of 4-year-old girl
CUMBERLAND, Ind. (WISH) — An Indianapolis man has been charged with the July death of 4-year-old girl in his care after a group of children found his firearm in their home, the Cumberland Police Department said Tuesday afternoon.
Deor Neita died after receiving what’s been called an accidental gunshot wound to her head from her 5-year-old brother, police said shortly after the July 5 afternoon shooting. Tuesday’s announcement from Cumberland police said the boy was 6 years old.
“It is not believed the six-year-old had any intention on harming any individual nor had the understanding of the devastation a firearm can create,” Cumberland police said in a news release issued Tuesday.
Terrelle Shawn Jackson, 25, faces a felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Investigators learned he was residing at a townhome with the children who were there at the time of the fatal shooting. He shared one child with the mother of Deor, the news release said.
Investigators believe four children, ages 6 and younger, found the firearm in an upstairs bedroom, and they “had prior knowledge the firearm was kept there and whom it belonged to,” the release said.
The firearm was loaded with an extended magazine. The firearm did not have its safety switch set, and did not have a gunlock, the release said.
The children moved to another upstairs bedroom where the fatal shooting happened.
“Jackson was not allowed by law to possess a firearm at the time of this incident and his alleged intentional failure to properly secure a loaded firearm in a home with six small children directly contributed to the death of Deor Neita,” the release said.
Jackson was apprehended Sept. 8, Cumberland police said Tuesday. He remained incarcerated in Marion County on Tuesday on a $100,000 surety bond, online jail records show. A jail-booking photo of Jackson was not immediately available Tuesday afternoon.
Online court records show Jackson has previously been convicted twice, in Marion and Marshall counites, for drunk driving. He pleaded guilty in both cases.
Cumberland is a town of 6,280 that straddles the Marion and Hancock counties’ border along U.S. 40, also known as Washington Street.
