Jessinya Mina, Fresno, California woman accidentally shot dead after 2 year old son finds mom’s boyfriend’s loaded unsecured gun. Boyfriend id as Andrew Sanchez had been repeatedly asked by the mother to have the weapons secured and placed in a gun lock in preventable tragedy.
A 22 year old Fresno, California woman has died after she was ‘accidentally shot dead’ by her 2 year old son after the toddler coming across his mother’s boyfriend loaded, ‘unsecured’ gun.
Jessinya Mina, 22, of northeast Fresno, was shot by her toddler son at her Butterfly Grove apartment while lying in bed just before 5:30pm Friday.
Police responded to the apartment complex, where they discovered Mina with a single gunshot wound to her upper body, FOX26 reported.
Victim’s sister accuses mom’s boyfriend of carelessness
Police say Mina’s 2 year old son was able to reach an unsecured gun inside the apartment belonging to the victim’s boyfriend according to a Facebook release from the Fresno Police Department.
‘The firearm was stored in a location where the toddler accessed the firearm, and at some point, in time, while handling that particular weapon, the toddler was able to manipulate the trigger, and it actually struck Mina as she was lying in bed,’ said Lt. Paul Cervantes with the Fresno Police Department.
When officers arrived at the apartment complex, Mina’s 18-year-old boyfriend, Andrew Sanchez and the couple’s other roommates were starting to take her to the hospital.
First responders then stepped in and took Mina to the hospital, where she later died.
In a statement to ABC30, Mina’s sister, Jessica Rodriguez says Sanchez neglected Mina’s requests not to keep a gun in the house and that her sister would still be alive if he had respected her sister’s demands.
‘Now because of her boyfriend’s carelessness, his arrogance, his irresponsibility and neglecting my sister’s wishes of never having a gun in her house, she’s gone forever,’ Rodriguez told the outlet.
Fresno mom’s boyfriend faces uncertain charges
Mina, who was also mother to an eight-month-old girl, was in the process of going back to cosmetology school and finishing her career.
She was described as a ‘beautiful mother’ who touched the lives of every person she encountered.
‘My sister was a young mother of two beautiful children who should’ve been given the opportunity to spend a long happy life with them,’ Rodriguez added.
‘She was loving, caring and always gave selflessly away whenever she had the opportunity.’
Police say Sanchez was arrested and booked into the Fresno County jail that night for negligent storage of a firearm and felony child endangerment but has since bailed out, adding he has no criminal history.
Shooting tragedy that could’ve been prevented
Police and prosecutors are working together to decide what charges would be appropriate for Sanchez following Mina’s death, KY3 reported.
‘I can’t imagine this case being a misdemeanor; I would see felony charges in this particular case if that’s the case, and if he’s convicted, it’s 2, 4, or 6 years in State prison,’ said ABC30 Legal analyst Tony Capozzi.
Capozzi says prosecutors will have to sort through a variety of evidence.
‘If it was a young boy, check for gunshot residue on his hands. So there are a lot of things that need to be investigated and put aside before they actually file the charges, which they think are the negligent handling of the firearm,’ said Capozzi.
A gun lock is a simple way to keep your firearm secured.
‘When you have it stored like this — this gun will not fire because you cannot out ammunition into it, when you don’t have a lock like this, it can be fired, it can be loaded,’ said Fresno police officer, Luke Tran.
This tragedy – a reminder that where and how you store your gun can make the difference between life and death, police said.
‘Do so in a manner that children do not access it, and for children that are watching this or that hear that, If you see a firearm, leave it alone, don’t touch it, tell an adult,’ said Lt. Cervantes.
A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set up to help pay for the funeral.
