A 22-year-old mother and her 19-year-old boyfriend have been charged with child neglect after taking a video of her 12-month-old daughter playing with a handgun and shouting 'pow'.
Toni Wilson, a former cashier at McDonald's, and her partner, Michael Barnes, were arrested after police discovered the cellphone footage while investigating Barnes for another alleged crime.
In the video, Wilson's daughter - who we are not identifying - is seen playing with a .40 caliber handgun while sitting on a bed at the couple's home in Evansville, Indiana.
As she waves the deadly weapon around, Barnes can allegedly be heard encouraging the toddler to shoot and say 'pow'. The child replies: 'pow', before holding out the gun and pretending to fire.
She later runs her fingers along the weapon's top and rubs it against her face. At one point, she even inserts the muzzle of the gun into her mouth, according to the footage.
However, at no point does Barnes attempt to stop the child, police said. In the footage, a woman's voice, believed to be Wilson's, can be heard from just meters away, 14 News reported.
Now, Wilson and Barnes have been arrested on charges of child neglect, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, and allowing a child to possess a firearm.
Police reportedly discovered the video - alongside another similar one of a child playing with a weapon - on Thursday after arresting Barnes for trying to sell a handgun to an undercover officer.
The suspect allegedly met the officer for the sale just feet away from Delaware Elementary School.
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During an interview with police, Wilson initially claimed that she did not know Barnes had a gun at the time, it is alleged. She reportedly later told officers the weapon in the video was a pellet gun.
Sargeant Jason Cullum, of Evansville Police Department, described the footage as 'mind-numbing'.
'When we try to encourage these kids to be good members of our community, and you see somebody that's working that hard against it, it just makes you wonder how many other children may be living in this type of situation and what the outcome is going to be,' he told the news site.
Wilson's daughter is currently in emergency care. She is joined by two one-month-old twins, who were also living at the property at the time and of whom Barnes is the father.
According to Wilson's Facebook profile, she is a former student of Ivy Tech Community College.
Barnes is also facing charges from his Thursday night arrest, WEHT reported.
Toni Wilson, a former cashier at McDonald's, and her partner, Michael Barnes, were arrested after police discovered the cellphone footage while investigating Barnes for another alleged crime.
In the video, Wilson's daughter - who we are not identifying - is seen playing with a .40 caliber handgun while sitting on a bed at the couple's home in Evansville, Indiana.
As she waves the deadly weapon around, Barnes can allegedly be heard encouraging the toddler to shoot and say 'pow'. The child replies: 'pow', before holding out the gun and pretending to fire.
She later runs her fingers along the weapon's top and rubs it against her face. At one point, she even inserts the muzzle of the gun into her mouth, according to the footage.
However, at no point does Barnes attempt to stop the child, police said. In the footage, a woman's voice, believed to be Wilson's, can be heard from just meters away, 14 News reported.
Now, Wilson and Barnes have been arrested on charges of child neglect, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon, and allowing a child to possess a firearm.
Police reportedly discovered the video - alongside another similar one of a child playing with a weapon - on Thursday after arresting Barnes for trying to sell a handgun to an undercover officer.
The suspect allegedly met the officer for the sale just feet away from Delaware Elementary School.
During an interview with police, Wilson initially claimed that she did not know Barnes had a gun at the time, it is alleged. She reportedly later told officers the weapon in the video was a pellet gun.
Sargeant Jason Cullum, of Evansville Police Department, described the footage as 'mind-numbing'.
'When we try to encourage these kids to be good members of our community, and you see somebody that's working that hard against it, it just makes you wonder how many other children may be living in this type of situation and what the outcome is going to be,' he told the news site.
Wilson's daughter is currently in emergency care. She is joined by two one-month-old twins, who were also living at the property at the time and of whom Barnes is the father.
According to Wilson's Facebook profile, she is a former student of Ivy Tech Community College.
Barnes is also facing charges from his Thursday night arrest, WEHT reported.
Source : Indiana police, DailyMail , Mirror , 14 News, WEHT
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