A Slidell woman was arrested Monday (Nov. 12) after a child she was caring for shot herself in the hand.
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to a local hospital shortly after 10 a.m. Monday in reference to a four-year-old who had shot herself in the hand at a residence on Parkline Boulevard in the Slidell area.
Fredrica Lee (DOB 11/7/1993) told deputies she was caring for her 4-year-old niece at the residence when she heard a gunshot from the living room area of the residence.
Lee learned the child had retrieved a loaded handgun from a cabinet located in the living room and had discharged the weapon. The child sustained a non-life-threatening injury to her hand.
Lee did not call 911 or emergency medical services when the incident occurred, and instead transported the child to a local hospital herself.
A search warrant was executed at the residence, during which time detectives observed the cabinet where two guns were reportedly stored prior to the incident. The firearms were loaded and easily accessible to the child. A spent shell casing was recovered from the living room.
Based on the investigation, Lee was arrested for one count of L.R.S 14:93 Cruelty to Juveniles, and was transported and booked in to the St. Tammany Parish Jail.
The child was released in to the custody of her father.