Camilla Jessen
The parents face multiple charges.
A man and a woman were arrested after their 4 year old twin sons were allegedly shot with a handgun they found at home, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said.
Deputies responded early Saturday, Nov. 8, to reports of two young boys with gunshot wounds, officials said.
According to an arrest affidavit, 39 year old Keishara B. Goodrum told police she heard a loud pop while making breakfast and then found one child bleeding near his arm. The twins’ father, 40 year old Maurice Wayne Bright Jr., said he was outside cooking when he heard a commotion and rushed inside.
Both parents drove the children to a nearby hospital, and while en route told police the second child had also been shot, the affidavit said.
The twins were taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital and remain hospitalized.
Hospital officials described their condition as critical but stable and recovering, local outlets reported.
Possible unsecured firearm and charges
Goodrum told deputies she had been drinking the night before and that she may have forgotten to secure a handgun, the sheriff’s office said.
She said the weapon might have been left under a couch cushion where the children could find it.
Goodrum was booked into the Orange County Jail on two counts of child neglect with great bodily harm.
Bright, who has a prior felony conviction, was charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Both were held on 10,000 dollar bonds, jail records show.
Florida law requires adults in homes with children under age 16 to keep handguns locked in a container or secured with a trigger lock, the Florida Sheriffs Association notes.
The law makes owners criminally responsible if an unsecured firearm is accessed by a minor and then discharged causing harm.
The state Department of Children and Families is involved in the case, the sheriff’s office said. Officials added that Bright could seek to regain custody of the children if he posts bond and conditions from child welfare authorities are met.
Investigators said three other children were in the house at the time of the incident.
This article is made and published by Camilla Jessen, who may have used AI in the preparation
