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Parents of 12-year-old who shot himself not expected to be charged

News Channel 8 photo by TODD DAVIS

Jacob Hunter Larson shot himself here at 435 Laughing Gull Lane in Palm Harbor.

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By MARK  DOUGLAS | News Channel 8

Published: April 20, 2009

Updated: 04/20/2009 04:18 pm

Pinellas County Sheriff's detectives say they do not expect to charge the parents of a 12-year-old boy found shot in the head Friday.

They say the boy accidentally shot himself with an old .25 caliber semi-automatic hand gun of European make that his mother received from a former employer six years ago, put away in a closet and forgot about.

Jacob Hunter Larson's stepfather Joseph Newman found him at at 435 Laughing Gull Lane, and deputies responded to the scene at 11:22 a.m., Pinellas County sheriff's spokeswoman Cecilia Barreda said.

Paramedics airlifted Larson to Bayfront Medical Center about noon Friday, where doctors stabilized him and transferred him to All Children's for further treatment.

Friday, All Children's Hospital said Jacob was in critical but stable condition

Today, spokesman Roy Adams said there is no patient by that name on the hospital's "public" list, adding that parents can ask the hospital to keep patients off of the list if they choose.

The sheriff's office said the boy appears to be improving slightly but the severity of his injuries won't become clear until his brain swelling subsides, which will take several days.

Investigators say the boy began handling the vintage gun after his mother left for work around 7:30 am. The boy normally goes to school at nearby Palm Harbor Middle school between 8:30 and 9am, according to investigators.

According to the sheriff's office, the mother, Tracy Newman, told investigators the couple "had forgotten that they had stored the weapon in a box in the closet."

Investigators say Newman also said "the weapon had always been in the box and that she'd never checked it or fired it."

State law makes it a criminal office for adults to leave loaded firearms in places where an adult "knows or reasonably should know that a minor is likely to gain access to the firearm without the lawful permission of the minor's parent, or without the supervision required by law.""

Prosecutors will review the investigators findings and could pursue charges if they decide there was negligence on the part of the parents.

Friday, Chief assistant State Attorney Bruce Bartlett said his offices uses "prosecutorial discretion" when deciding whether to pursue charges in such cases.

Bartlett said prosecutors have charged parents in several prior shootings involving children who had access to guns and injured someone as a consequence.

Next door neighbor Tom Byrne says Jacob is a quiet, well mannered by and the last one he'd expect to be involved with any sort of gun violence.

"He is my friend," said Byrne, whose own two stepsons are now grown.

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