A 26-year-old mother in Michigan has been arrested after her 2-year-old son got ahold of a handgun and fatally shot himself in the face at a gas station last month. Emma Jane Huver is now facing multiple felony charges, including involuntary manslaughter, second-degree child abuse, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in the tragic slaying of young King Muhammad, authorities confirmed to Law&Crime.
According to the Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, Huver was also charged with one count of carrying a concealed weapon and three counts of felony firearm possession for allegedly having a firearm with her during the commission of manslaughter, child abuse, and unlawful firearm possession by a felon.
Emma Jane Huver (Ingham County Jail)
A copy of the criminal complaint obtained by Law&Crime accuses Huver of either killing King through negligent performance by “discharging a loaded firearm in the immediate proximity of her two-year-old minor child” or negligent failure to perform by leaving him “unsupervised” and with “access to and use of a loaded firearm while the child was unrestrained in a motor vehicle.”
Just before the shooting, Huvel and her son were traveling with 44-year-old Avis Damone Coward, who has since been arrested and charged in federal court with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Avis Damone Coward (Court filing)
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, surveillance footage revealed that the shooting took place at about 3 p.m. on Oct. 24 at a Sunoco gas station located in the 3000 block of Dunckel Road in Lansing, Michigan. The car, a white GMC Yukon truck driven by Coward, is seen parking next to one of the gas pumps.
About two minutes after parking, at about 3:02 p.m., Coward can be seen getting out of the car and going into the gas station. At about 3:03 p.m., the footage showed “a small bullet hole” suddenly appearing in the front passenger window of the vehicle.
Bullet hole from the car after King Muhammad allegedly shot himself (Criminal Complaint)
A minute later, a woman later identified as Huver is shown getting out of the passenger seat “holding a two-year-old child who had blood on his face.” As Huver exited the vehicle, authorities said that a gun could be seen falling to the ground.
“The mother handed the child to Coward, who then handed the child to another person nearby. That person took the child into the gas station and attempted to control the bleeding until medical personnel arrived,” the complaint states. “At 3:04 pm, Coward started to close the front passenger door, but then leaned down, picked up the gun, and put it back in the car. Coward also used his hand to break out the front passenger window, which had the bullet hole.”
Coward then got back into the driver’s seat and drove the car away from the gas station. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.
Police responded to the scene and Huver agreed to speak with them about what led to her son’s fatal injury.
“She said that after her friend, ‘Avis,’ got out of the car, her child got into the front seat. She said that she was on the phone and not paying attention when she heard an ‘explosion’ and saw that her child had shot himself in the head.”
Huver appeared in court on Monday where a judge set her bond at $85,000.
“This case is a parent’s worst nightmare. It’s heartbreaking and reinforces the importance of responsible gun ownership and safety storage,” Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge James Deir said in a statement about the incident. “A child should never be left alone with a gun. Leaving the gun at home in a secure gun safe or using a safety device, such as a gun lock, prevent tragedies like this.”
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