An Alabama woman has been charged with manslaughter after her toddler son was shot and killed when she left her children alone with unseured weapons.
Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said that Evelyn Leyva Etress is also charged with aggravated child abuse and drug charges in the case, WVTM reported.
Etress was arrested on Wednesday and released Saturday on a $90,000 bond.
Records show that 2-year-old Noah’s four siblings — two 4-year-old girls, a 9-year-old, and a 13-year-old — were at the Blount County home Wednesday morning. Police said they were called the home at about 10 a.m.
Etress said she had left the 4-year-old girls and Noah unattended in the master bedroom while she made tea. She heard the gunshot, which she described as a “loud noise,” and found the older children running from a closet in the bedroom with Noah lying on the floor bleeding. A handgun was also on the floor.
According to WBMA, Etress said that gun had been just lying out on a dresser.
Blount County Sheriff Mark Moon said three unsecured long guns were also found in the home. One weapon was seized.
“The public record that we saw filed in this with the sheriff’s office, there were at least four, if not five firearms that were loaded in that home where the children had easy access to,” said Casey.
Five children were taken from the home and placed in the custody of the Alabama Department of Human Resources, WVTM said.
Casey said the children’s father was a convicted felon who was pardoned last year and got his firearm rights back. He has not been charged.
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[Featured image: Evelyn Etress/Blount County Sheriff’s Office]
