Stepfather of Teenager Killed in Accidental Shooting Calls for Accountability
Our Miami-Dade firearms crimes criminal defense attorneys were saddened to read recently about the death of a 13-year-old boy in an apparently accidental shooting. Daniel Torres of Hollywood was killed last Wednesday by a friend, an unnamed 14-year-old neighbor boy who was playing with a loaded gun. The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported May 3 that Torres’s stepfather, Daniel Delgado, is upset with the older boy’s family for apparently leaving the neighborhood after the incident and wants justice to take its course. Police are investigating how the boy got hold of the gun, since Florida state law requires gun owners to keep loaded firearms away from minors.
Torres stayed home from school the day of the shooting because of an injury from a bicycle accident. On that day, the 14-year-old called 911 to report that he had just accidentally shot his friend. He told the 911 operator that he and Torres had been playing with his mother’s gun, and had removed the clip and all the bullets. He was pulling the trigger to see if it was completely unloaded, he said, when Torres walked in front of him. He told the operator he thought Torres was dead at the scene. Torres was later pronounced dead at Memorial Hospital. No charges have been filed, but an investigation into whether the firearm was stored correctly is underway. The older boy and his mother have left the neighborhood since the shooting, the Sun-Sentinel said, and could not be reached for comment.
As Fort Lauderdale gun crimes criminal defense lawyers, we’re extremely sorry to hear about cases like this, because each and every one is preventable. Minors are permitted to have firearms in Florida, but the firearms must be kept unloaded at home and used only for lawful hunting purposes. Minors under 16 must be supervised by an adult. These laws are intended to make an exception for safe, conscientious and carefully controlled use of firearms by minors who have been taught to be responsible around firearms. As the article noted, the law also recognizes that not every minor is capable of responsibility around guns, which is why adults must securely lock their loaded firearms out of reach of minors. Failing to do so is a misdemeanor carrying up to 60 days in jail.
Law offices of Sebastian John Balliro, P.A. defends Floridians and visitors accused of all types of firearms crimes, from possession and status crimes to serious or violent offenses. We also handle civil gun matters such as licensing, appeals, BATF investigations and restoration of civil rights. We believe strongly that every American should have the right to own and use guns in a safe and lawful manner, and that laws regulating guns and weapons can overreach out of an understandable concern for public safety or an irrational anti-gun hysteria. Our West Palm Beach weapons crimes defense attorneys believe that in accidental shootings like this one, the accused are already punished by having to live with what they did. More penalties, especially misdemeanor penalties, may not be able to make the situation any more real, or even deter others from making the same mistakes.
If you’re tangled up in the law because of your purchase, ownership, transportation or use of firearms, you should call Balliro for help. To set up a free, confidential consultation, please contact us online or call us toll-free from anywhere in Florida at 1-866-FIREARMS.
