An Indiana father shot and killed his wife and wounded their 1-month-old daughter last month, initially claiming the woman did it herself.
Cameron Tomlinson, 21, was charged with reckless homicide and criminal recklessness, the Kokomo Police Department said.
The department said officers were called to the apartment just after 7 p.m. on February 24 and found 21-year-old Jessica Tomlinson with a gunshot wound to the upper torso and the baby with a gunshot wound to the hand. Jessica Tomlinson was holding the baby at the time of the shooting.
Medics tried to save the mother but were unsuccessful; the baby was rushed to a local hospital with “significant trauma” before being taken to Riley Children’s Hospital in Indianapolis.
Court documents say Cameron Tomlinson told police that he and his wife were getting ready to go out that night when his wife insisted he carry a gun because it “went well with his outfit,” WXIN reports. He said she got the gun from a gun safe while carrying the baby.
Then, he said, he warned his wife to be careful with the gun because it was cocked. Jessica Tomlinson tried to open the gun’s cylinder one-handed — while still holding the baby — and it went off, striking her in the chest and the infant in the hand, he claimed.
Police weren’t buying that account, however, so he changed his story. His new story had him disliking how his wife was holding the gun by the barrel, so he grabbed it and tried to pull it away. As he did, it “went off.”
An officer asked him if he grabbed the gun by the grip and pulled the trigger. He replied that he must have.
“To sum up,” he said, “that means I shot her.”
It’s not clear if he stuck with the “looks good with his outfit” part of the story.
He said he put the gun on the bed and attempted life-saving measures, completely unaware that the baby had been shot.
According to Law&Crime, Tomlinson is being held on a $15,000 bond and has been ordered to have no contact with the infant. He’s due in court again on May 20.
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[Featured image: Cameron Tomlinson/Howard County jail]
