Firearms Lawyer Blog

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.

Continue reading "Stepfather of Teenager Killed in Accidental Shooting Calls for Accountability" »

Our West Palm Beach firearms crimes defense attorneys were saddened by the news that a two-year-old girl was injured by an unattended gun. The Tampa Tribune reported March 26 that Ralph Ronzino, 22, is charged with child neglect by culpable negligence for leaving his handgun within reach of his girlfriend’s daughter. Mckenzie Smith, 2, sustained a gunshot wound to her abdomen and was hospitalized in critical but stable condition as of March 26. Ronzino also faces charges related to a search of the home, which turned up several other firearms “easily accessible to the child” as well as 202 grams of marijuana. Neither Ronzino nor Mckenzie’s mother, 22-year-old Jessica Smith, have extensive criminal histories.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office said Ronzino said he took out the .380-caliber handgun because he heard a shot fired in the night. After finding nothing unusual outside, he put the gun on the nightstand and went back to sleep. Around 10:35 a.m. on March 26, Mckenzie apparently found the gun and shot herself in the abdomen. Ronzino was out shopping, but Smith was home. After the incident, a police search turned up two other handguns and an AK-47, all of which were confiscated along with the marijuana. Ronzino faces charges of child neglect by culpable negligence, a second-degree felony carrying up to 15 years in prison. He is separately charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell. Bail was set at $55,000, and Ronzino has been ordered to stay away from Mckenzie and not to possess any other firearms.

As responsible gun owners and Miami gun crimes defense lawyers, we’d like to remind Floridians that two different statutes specifically require gun owners to keep loaded weapons out of the reach of minors under 16. If a minor gets hold of such a weapon and possesses or exhibits it publicly, the responsible person can be charged with a misdemeanor. If the minor uses the weapon to inflict injury or death on anyone, including himself or herself, the responsible person can be charged with a third-degree felony for culpable negligence. Interestingly, Ronzino is charged with a more serious second-degree felony under a Florida child neglect statute that doesn’t mention firearms. If we were representing Ronzino, we’d be interested to know why he is being charged with the more serious crime of child neglect, given that the culpable negligence statute seems to describe the situation better.

Continue reading "Tampa Man Charged With Negligence in Toddler’s Injury From Unattended Gun" »

As Miami firearms crimes criminal defense attorneys, we have followed coverage of a tragic New Year’s Eve accident with interest. As the Miami Herald reported Jan. 4, a six-year-old boy named Andrea Fregonese was seriously hurt as he celebrated the new year with his parents at a restaurant in the Design District. The family was vacationing in Miami from northern Italy. Law enforcement believes the bullet that hit him was falling after being fired into the air in celebration of the holiday, despite aggressive public education efforts by authorities trying to prevent such an accident. The boy was originally taken to intensive care and underwent surgery there, but was moved out of the ICU on Jan. 4, listed in serious but stable condition.

According to an earlier Herald article, the family was dining outdoors during the accident. Just after midnight, Fregonese complained of pain in his torso. After checking under his shirt, his parents rushed him to the hospital. Law enforcement is not sure where the bullet may have come from; they urged witnesses to call Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers or the police department’s Homicide Unit. The article said stray bullets fired into the air are an ongoing problem in Miami-Dade. At least three other people have died this way in the past four years, and at least four others were wounded. The incident made the news in Europe, much of it unflattering. Miami’s mayor has pledged that the city will do what it can to help the family, and businesses have offered free lodgings, meals and taxi rides during Fregonese’s recovery.

Because this incident has attracted a lot of negative press, we suspect that anyone caught will face the most severe charges prosecutors can justify. However, as Fort Lauderdale gun crimes defense lawyers, we do not believe an assault charge would be legally correct or justified. Under Florida law, the intent of the shooter matters. A charge of aggravated battery -- a likely charge for an attack with a firearm -- requires proving that the defendant intentionally or knowingly caused great bodily harm. This is not to say that we believe the injury shouldn’t be punished. As NRA referral attorneys with substantial firearms expertise, we believe in free, legal and responsible gun ownership. Shooting into the air is not responsible. However, assuming that the firearm itself was legally owned, a more appropriate charge could be culpable negligence, a first-degree misdemeanor.

Continue reading "Miami Rallies Around Italian Tourist Child Hit by Bullet on New Year’s Eve" »