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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
May 13, 2008
TWO-YEAR-OLD’S ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING SENDS ATCHISON MAN TO FEDERAL PRISON
KANSAS CITY, KAN. – A man whose gun accidentally discharged and injured his 2-year-old daughter was sentenced Monday to 46 months in federal prison.
Kevin Shawndale Smith, 26, Atchison, Kan., pleaded guilty in February to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm after a felony conviction. In his plea, he admitted that on May 28, 2007, police were called to the emergency room at Atchison Hospital where Smith’s 2-year-old daughter was being treated for a gunshot wound. The bullet had entered her chest and exited through her back.
Smith initially claimed the girl had been shot outside his residence by an unknown person. But the investigation showed that the girl had been shot in a bathroom in the house when a gun Smith was carrying fell from his pocket and discharged.
Smith, who was convicted in 2002 on a felony charge of distributing crack cocaine, was prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm.
U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren commended the Atchison Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead for their work on the case.
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