Boy grabbed uncle’s gun from computer desk while playing before accidentally shooting, killing himself
A little boy who unintentionally shot himself in Tamarac in late September was playing on a computer while in the care of his uncle, who kept his gun unsecured and loaded on the computer desk, according to an arrest warrant.
The boy, 6-year-old Odaine Hall, died. His uncle Carika Hall, 25, was arrested Wednesday in connection with his death, the Broward Sheriff’s Office said.
Hall was watching Odaine and Odaine’s 5-year-old brother on the afternoon of Sept. 30 at his apartment in Tamarac, the arrest warrant said. Hall told deputies after the shooting that he and his 5-year-old nephew were sitting on his couch, playing a game on the TV while Odaine was sitting at the computer desk with his back facing Hall.
Hall said he heard a bang and got up from the couch to find Odaine starting to fall out of the computer chair, according to the warrant. He moved the boy to the ground.
Uncle arrested after 6-year-old nephew accidentally shot himself in Tamarac
Asked where the gun was before Odaine got ahold of it, Hall said he knew the gun was there. Usually, the gun is either behind the computer or in a drawer in his bedroom when he is home alone, Hall told deputies. He did not have a holster or safe for it, the warrant said.
Hall did not call 911 immediately after Odaine unintentionally shot himself, according to the warrant. He covered Odaine’s body with a towel so that the younger boy would not see him, and then he called his girlfriend rather than 911 because his “head was all over the place and he did not know what to do.”
He told his girlfriend on the phone what happened and drove to her job in Hollywood to pick her up and called 911 on the way to pick up his girlfriend, the warrant said. He also at some point called his father and Odaine’s mother, who left work and went to Hall’s apartment.
Hall’s neighbor heard the gunshot erupt about 3 p.m., the warrant said. Before he went to pick up his girlfriend, Hall told his neighbor that Odaine shot himself and was dead and left the 5-year-old nephew with the woman. When Hall and his girlfriend were back at the apartment complex, he said that he was going to “turn himself in,” according to the warrant.
Detectives reviewed video from Hall’s Ring doorbell camera that showed him coming out of his apartment shortly after 3 p.m. telling someone over the phone that Odaine had shot himself, the warrant said. A few minutes later, Hall could be heard in the video saying in Jamaican Patois, “the boy went and troubled the thing,” and “Bro I don’t know what to do,” among other things.
About 3:15 p.m. Hall was seen leaving the apartment, telling someone on the phone that he was coming to get the person and that he had “to run away,” the warrant said. The warrant indicates that Hall left the younger boy alone with Odaine’s body in the room at some point “for a period of time.”
A detective tried to interview Odaine’s younger brother on Oct. 7, but he “began crying once the interview focused on his brother and he was unable to provide any information in regard
to the shooting,” the warrant said. The boy was referred to therapy.
Hall faces one count of culpable negligence and one count of neglect of a child, court records show. He has since been released from jail after posting bail. Attorney information was not available Friday night.
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