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Houston Police Department
Marquiez Deshon Pratt
A 4-year-old Houston boy fatally shot himself with his father's stolen handgun Sunday morning, police say.
Marquiez Deshon Pratt, 21, was asleep on the couch when his son, Jaiden, picked up the gun and shot himself in the stomach, according to a report from the Houston Police Department.
The weapon, a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol, was stolen during a burglary in 2011, according to the police report.
Jaiden was spending the weekend with his father when the incident occurred. The boy's mother dropped him off every Friday and was scheduled to pick him up Sunday at noon, according to the Houston Chronicle.
After the shooting, the elder Pratt ran out of his second-floor apartment with his son in his arms, yelling to his neighbors for help, according to the Houston Chronicle.
When officers arrived, Pratt handed his son over to them and ran back to his apartment.
While some officers pursued Pratt, others performed CPR on the young victim, but the boy was pronounced dead at the scene.
The officers who followed Pratt into his apartment discovered marijuana and crack cocaine along with weighing scales and other items used to sell drugs, according to the police report.
Pratt was arrested and charged with injury to a child by omission and possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
"He's in mourning. He's in pain and feels a lot of self guilt," Sgt. Brian Harris, of the Houston PD's homicide department, told the Houston Chronicle. "He kept saying, 'I messed up. I messed up.'"
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I bet people have a gun to keep thugs like this daddy out of their houses.
It's just that this daddy was able to get ahold of a stolen gun somehow....
Guns are for the innocent, to protect their families from the criminals.
I do not agree with Obama or anyone taking their guns away.
Maybe a better education on guns is more appropriate. You don't
see too many smart gun owner stories of stupidity....
.... the father's fault, the father will live with the guilt of not protecting his son from his gun.
It's not my fault, it's not 150,000,000 other gun owner's fault and it's not the NRA's fault.
Gun grabbers will blame everyone except the guilty.
RIP.
its your fault if your child finds your hidden gun and blows his/her head off, if there is a gun in every home throughout the country, many more times children will be the one killed rather than a intruder. After your child is dead, will you still be so pro-active so that other children can get ahold of their parent's gun too?
@John M. Why is it that I, my siblings, and many other people my young age was raised around guns and never blew anyone away, including ourselves? My dad had a rifle, shotgun, and a .22 rifle behind the front and back door ever since I can remember.
My older siblings and I were all taught gun safety from the day we could start walking. If/when I have children, they will be taught the same way I was about firearms.
I agree, it's the parents fault for not having weapons secured, unless the child is trained in handling firearms. And while it's hypotherotic, I would still be pro gun. It all boils down to PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY.
And that seems to be lacking on the anti gun crowd. But yes, the father of that poor child should be locked up for life.
My family was also familiar with guns and trained. One day my friend came over and while I was taking a leak he pulled out the shotgun from the closet and pretended to shoot his little brother. Luckily he raised it up and blew a hole in the roof instead of his brother. From that day on my dad locked every gun in a safe.
Were talking about a stolen fkn( !!!!!) gun here and one of the first comments is "all guns must go". The gun was stolen and the guy had drugs all around him, what part of this am I missing that says my rights need to be taken because of this guy? Want all guns gone? You gonna be the one busting down doors and asking for them? Yea, didnt think so.
You idiots that want to ban military type weapons don't even know what type of gun this is. Everyone wants to ban the AR-15 type gun. This type of gun is only a frame!! A look, that's all. Just like a truck verse a car. They are the same, a type of transportation. The AR-15 frame can be any caliber and have a clip that is completely legal to use in hunting situations, most states 5 cartridges. Learn what the hell you are even wanting to ban. Get educated a little b4 running your mouth and voting. Just like the idiots that voted for obama, all they heard is free!!!
what next, shoulder rocket launchers should be legal to a respectful gun owner?
You would get your ass kicked by the government so that AR argument is BS. ban them as well as:
Mandatory Background checks for every sale private or dealer.
Mandatory gun registration either purchase or already owned.
Mandatory psych eval for all gun purchases from a psych like a script.
Mandatory registration of all weapons either purchased or owned. 90 days to register.
Mandatory jail time if caught with unregistered weapon.
Also I voted for Obama because the actually care about Middle Class America. Romney would sell out his own mother if he knew which of his fathers wives it was.
@crushedu
A judge already made the decision that a person cannot/does NOT have to register their weapons.
And you want to come to my house to see if my weapons are registered. Well, you might, then again, might not like looking down the barrel of a 12 guage shotgun.
Not that I would do that, but I do know people who would point it right in your face. Bet you won't show up to check, would you? If you do, better have a bunch of depends with you. I'm sure you might soil your britches.
I also voted for Obama, he was the best choice. And Obama was the President who gave people with CCL's to carry weapons in our state parks. Bet that burns your rear end, huh? I know the conservatives can't handle that either.
Why are you afraid of registering your guns? Are you insane or a criminal? I could care less how many pistols or bb guns you carry around as long as you are responsible with them. I detest the AR type guns sissy boys use to hunt. A real man uses a muzzle loader or a bow like I do. Get a grip or get in your bunker.
History has shown time and time again that registration is the first step to confiscation and later genocide. And the gubment isnt gonna kick anyones ass anytime soon. Remember katrina, la riots, waco? Yea thumbs up their butts.
Let the guns stay and get rid of the ghetto blacks. Free labor my a$$, we're still paying for them. Nothing good comes from Africa except stupidity and violence.
Nothing good comes from the South or Texas except racist rednecked aholes.
The gun was not responsible for this child's death. The father's high risk life style and behavior is to blame.
He should NOT have been allowed to have this child in his possession if the mother knew what he was like, for the protection of her child.
I'm so sad for the child in this case. Poor baby.
I quite believe that the NRA will come up with a solution to this, that will not affect
the profit margins of the gun manufacturers. Because after all, it is not about freedom, it is about profit. And the sooner people realize that, the sooner we
can have a meaningful dialogue.
It's profiling I tell you. This poor man was up all night packaging product and can't even get a nap ;plus they're railroading him. It isn't even his gun; so, go after the real owner.
/just pretending to be a liberal/
Rest in peace, dearest angel.
His father will have to live with this for the rest of his life, regardless of any prison sentence he gets.
To sound terribly totalitarian, I think I have part of the solution: birth control!
No one should be allowed to reproduce until the pass a psychological test, criminal background test, financial means test, etc. and definitely be over the age of 21!
Sorry. Just sick and tired of people having children who are UNFIT to be parents.
Well now, that is a racist comment.
The pattern is not very difficult, where ever there is a gun there is trouble.
More police officers and a good crime prevention plan are the most effective methods for public security. Yes, there should be exemptions for farmers and people living in a bigger spread of land outside city / town limits, but with certain rules attached like they can carry there guns off they property.
For city dwellers the police and private security guards should be the only people carrying a gun.
The hell with the NRA and ACLU. One more reason to kick the lobbyists out of Congress and put even more limits on campaign donations.
It is very hard to read and hear a children being deprived of life because a crazy man with gun goes nuts. I don't think our society should accept this new norm of the occasional shooting every so often.
It could be your child next.
So your against ccw holders? Not enough bodies on the streets of Chicago or D.C. for you? Call the police where you live and check out the response time, thats why people have guns. Someones in your house stabbing and raping you can call the police and pee all over yourself or you can fight back.
THREE HUNDRED MILLION GUNS in the US and 90 MILLION gun owners.
"where ever there is a gun there is trouble." - only in your gun-grabbing fantasies.
@Ad' Yes, right. The police are only (an average of 6 minutes away) when you really need them. My personal carry weapon is 5 seconds away from being used to save my cute butt, and maybe save you and your family also.
Your choice on what you want, I know what I will be doing. And make it illegal, then I will be a criminal, as that is the only ones misusing guns now. The legal RESPONSIBILE GUN OWNERS aren't causing the problem.
But you anti gun nuts can't seem to understand that by enforcing the laws already on the books, most of these stupid killings would cease to happen.
There's really no point in giving Ad'm or any of these other pansies a hard time. They've decided to wrap themselves in the warm blanket of the Annointed One's All Benevolent Federal Babysitting government.
The sad part is, they don't realize that its actually a noose, but they never see it coming til they hear the snap....
It's only natural in this iPad world that we live in that many will lose their individual survival skills. Rather than fend for themselves, they prefer to be herded into cities where only the police have guns. We'll just ignore the inanity of that concept, but whatever...
Pity them, cuz one day they'll be at your door wanting you to feed them and then wipe their butts..
Everyone is entitled to their opinion and I respect yours. But you, gun owners, are not addressing the real problem, children are being gunned down every day.
Yes, heath-care is one of the answers and so is more useful and effective gun controls. What President Obama is pushing now will not take your gun away, in fact, his proposal could save you the grief of taking a life by reducing your chance of ever getting victimized. His proposal will reduce incidents both criminal and accidents, so what is the big fuss?
Saving children is far more important than infringing on some of our rights. Some parts of the constitution are out of date and should be constantly scrutinize for relevance as problems surface to the top and start effecting our important living standards.
One of your more reasoned posts.
So, how will the currently proposed ban "reduce incidents both criminal and accidents?" It was allowed to sunset back in 2004 after it proved to do neither.
Your last paragraph may be true. In that case, we have a Constitutionally mandated means to change it - via an Amendment. Most of us are not comfortable with having a mayor, governor, senator, or the prez, himself, decide what rights we should retain and what we should be disallowed.
If you wish to forfeit your rights in order to save children, please feel free to not speak for us all.
Idiot! ... what is more important than children?
You can take your gun and shove it up your a$$. I care about giving a chance to the kids for a long life and fulfill their dreams.
Just because you fell short of your plans doesn't give you the right to take it away from someone else.
How tragic can you get. OMG! I am SO sorry! RIP little one. Dad messed up BAD!!!!
Another fine example of America's minorities.
Please take your bigortry somewhere else.
Mandatory sterilization of all racist people no matter thier race.
Where are the 93 articles...one for each of the automobile deaths over the course of the same one day in which this occurred??
.
NBC is propaganda media for the Obama White House.
Hey HopeisGone, just like Fox News is the propaganda media for the low informed lying GOP, right?
Very sad indeed. Just keep in mind there a TON of parents out there with the same problems.
I'd rather not be a gun owner, which is my right, and I feel hell alot safer that my child doesn't end his life finding my hidden gun and trying to out (like so many children do in america)
When I was a kid I would always screw around with my dads gun without his knowledge. A good owner locks up his weapon.
SO MANY CHILDREN???? where are the stats for that comment
One child, is enough!
A future drug-dealing, gang banger guns himself down. It was going to happen sooner or later. Our country is full of low-lifes, like never before. I'm moving to Europe.
Pick you destination in Europe carefully. Many states there have a much higher violent crime rate than we do. Especially the UK.
As usual my only question is Texas or Florida??
I agree we need to take guns away from drug dealers and crack heads....
I feel sorry for the boys mother...
The dad... yes I feel bad that he had to learn a lesson this way...stolen gun left laying around, no child supervision.
They kid could just have easily died from eating the crack....
I have many guns in my home and NONE are where a 4 year old can get to them... i also have a 4 year old, a 2 year old, and a 2 month old in my home....
This is not about a careless gun..this is about a careless
fathermancriminalHope it is in a safe and not in a drawer or closet. Your gun is more likely to be used to hurt a loved on accidently than ever being used to stop a criminal. buy a dog you would be better off and statistics show that dogs are the best deterrent from home invasions and someone breaking in.
its about careless society if so many children are being killed by military style guns with oversized clips that are perfectly legal to obtain and even without a background check to a mental deranged freak eyeing a school to slaughter little girls and boys.
@Crushed... your FACTS are more urban ledge then truth
Hey BLS how about we keep our guns and get rid of all the "Idiots"
To insure we keep guns out of the hands of irresponsible people we need to get to the crux of the problem and insure we only create responsible people. Therefore, it is duty of the government to insure only responsible people breed. Ladies, you must now register your vaginas. Its registration for breeding will only be valid in your state of domicile unless there is a reciprocity breeding agreement with other states. Some states may allow conceal carry with a special permit but others will insist on open carry only. High capacity vaginas will only be permitted by professional breeders and the military. Vagina’s of a certain age will be considered antiques and will not require a breeding permit.
Thank God the 2nd amendment exists so that innocent citizens may keep legal guns to protect themselves against drug dealers and burglars like this poor kid's father.....
Another innocent child who died because of careless and irresponsible parents. This little boy didn't stand a chance in life. Mom should also be charged with child endangerment for knowingly placing her son in a criminal environment. RIP little guy.
Messed Up?, you're in texas son. They might find a way to run electricity through you.
The owner of the gun should've done a background check on the thief before it was stolen. Another victim of thuggery and idiocy, not a gun.