BALTIMORE — A Baltimore grandmother will face prison time after her granddaughter accidentally shot herself with a stolen gun.
It all began on Saturday, January 25, when officers responded to the 3500 block of Ingleside Avenue for a service call.
Officers found the caller, identified as Alethea Mitchell, who said she came to the location and found her granddaughter suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The child was taken to Johns Hopkins Pediatrics in critical condition. She succumbed to her injuries three days later after being removed from life support.
Mitchell initially told responding officers that her ex-boyfriend owned the weapon. She later told police that she moved the gun from underneath her granddaughter's body and put it in the rear bedroom under some clothes.
Mitchell's son, who was also at the scene, told police that he arrived at the house after receiving a frantic call from his mother.
Police found the weapon, a pink Diamond Arms 9mm handgun, in a clear tote underneath some folded clothes, along with a black magazine with four live rounds.
Investigators ran the serial number for the gun and found it was reported stolen during a burglary in North Carolina in 2017.
In addition to the weapon being stolen, Mitchell is prohibited from owning a gun due to a prior conviction.
After waiving her Miranda Rights, Mitchell told detectives that she and her granddaughter came home that Friday, January 24, around 11:00 p.m. She said that she left her home Saturday morning to go to work while her granddaughter was asleep on the couch.
Around 10:30 a.m., she said her granddaughter woke up.
Later in the day, around 12:45 p.m., the child spoke to Mitchell through the camera in the house and said that one of the dogs had scratched her in the face.
Mitchell texted her around 1:59 p.m. asking if she wanted something to eat, but received no response.
She came home around 3:02 p.m. that afternoon and found her granddaughter in the bed lying in blood.
After attempts to wake her up failed, she moved her body and found the handgun underneath her, later leading to the 911 call.
"With a case like this, you can not help but acknowledge the incredible importance of rigorous gun safety practices when you own a firearm," said State's Attorney Ivan J. Bates. "I implore every parent and guardian to utilize the information readily available, especially during Gun Violence Awareness Month, to double and triple-check that your firearms are safely secured. My heart aches for the loved ones of E'vaa Mikel Sewell, and I am grateful to my Special Victims Team working together with the Detectives from the Baltimore Police Department for securing some measure of justice for them."
Mitchell pleaded guilty to felon in possession of a firearm and reckless endangerment.
She was sentenced to 15 years, suspending all but nine, with five years of supervised probation.
