Published: July 17, 2007 10:48 pm         

Toddler discovers pistol, shoots self in neck

VALDOSTA, Ga. — A 3-year-old boy died Tuesday from wounds sustained following what appears to be an accidental shooting at a Valdosta residence, according to Cmdr. Brian Childress with the Valdosta Police Department.

The child, Steven Bustillos-Ramirez, accompanied his mother Eva Castillo, who runs a private cleaning service, to a residence that morning, according to Childress

Authorities responded to the home at about 9:55 a.m. and found the child dead in one of the bedrooms. Initial reports and results of gunshot residue testing indicate that the child gained control of a loaded Taurus .45-caliber pistol, which was left on a night stand, and shot himself in the neck, according to Childress.

Castillo regularly took two other children, ages 7 and 10, to work with her, but had not taken the 3-year-old before Tuesday, according to Childress.

At the time of the incident only one of three college-age residents was home, but was asleep in a separate bedroom.

According to the Lowndes County Board of Assessors, the home is owned by Giuseppe Pistelli and his father, Massimo Pistelli.

Giuseppe Pistelli is reported to be the owner of the gun and stated that he used the gun to protect himself and his business. Additional weapons were found in the home, but were not loaded, according to Childress.

“We are not going to rule out filing criminal charges, but at this point that would be premature,” Childress said. “We hope that some small amount of good could come from Steven’s death if the public can become better educated on gun safety.”

The police department has been providing gun safety locks free to the public for a number of years as part of Project ChildSafe, a program developed by the National Shooting Sports Foundatio, which is supported by a U.S. Department of Justice grant. The department will also conduct free courses on gun safety.

“We believe this tragedy could have been avoided with a device like this,” Childress said, referring to the gun safety lock.



Kelli Hernandez writed for The Valdosta (Ga.) Daily Times.



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Gun safety tips:

• Do not keep loaded weapons in the home.

• Keep weapons in areas that are not accessible to children.

• Secure all weapons with safety locks.

• Talk to children to educate them about guns and gun safety.