Written by Tanya Terry
A toddler is now dead, and his father will be charged with two 15-year felonies, including involuntary manslaughter, as a result of what authorities say was negligence.
A 2-year-old boy, Cortez Legend Guy, died early in the day May 15 after he shot himself in the head with an unsecured .40-caliber handgun.
Just before 2:45 a.m., detectives with the Flint Major Crimes Unit located the 2-year-old in a home on the 700 block of East Philadelphia Boulevard. Officers also found a trail of blood leading to a bedroom upstairs in the home, with a .40-caliber handgun at the end of the trail.
The gun was found on a bloody bed with what police believe was brain matter.
Cortez was taken to Hurley Hospital and pronounced dead at 3:04 a.m.
A single bullet hole was found in the ceiling above the bed in the room the gun was found in. Additionally, a bag of marijuana, a magazine of 15 live rounds and one spent cartridge casing still in the magazine well of the pistol was found.
An investigation revealed that along with the child’s father, who was in the home at the time of the incident, two of his father’s cousins were in the home earlier that day. The cousins are believed to have left the home around 1 a.m. The gun the young child got a hold of and shot himself was registered to one of these individuals.
Investigators also determined the men had been using marijuana and the search warrant stated there was a strong marijuana odor in the house.
In addition to the involuntary manslaughter for the three individuals, Prosecutor David Leyton said the father and the two cousins will be charged with violating the safe storage law causing death. The law took effect in February of this year.
Other charges the father is facing are for being a felon in possession of a firearm, lying to a police officer regarding a violent crime investigation, possession of a firearm while under the influence of a controlled substance and three counts of felony firearm.
His cousins also face charges for possession of a firearm while under the influence of a controlled substance and two counts of felony firearm.
The child’s father originally said his son had shot himself with an airsoft gun.
