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Stepfather arrested after 4-year-old fatally shot in Maine
Jasper Smith, 4, died at a local hospital after suffering a gunshot wound to the head last month. His stepfather is charged with manslaughter.
The stepfather of a 4-year-old boy who died from a gunshot wound to the head last month in Lewiston, Maine has been arrested, officials announced Wednesday.
Robert McCoy, 35, was arrested Tuesday morning and charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child, the Maine Department of Public Safety announced.
Lewiston police responded to a Pierce Street apartment on May 17, where the 4-year-old was suffering a gunshot wound to the head, according to the department, which includes the Maine State Police.
The child, Jasper Smith, was transported to Central Maine Medical Center where he was pronounced dead two hours later, police said. After his death, the Department of Health and Human Services and Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit South began an investigation.
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About a month later, McCoy was arrested, police said. Jasper’s mother, Mikayla Smith, 27, was also arrested on unrelated warrants. Both were transported to Androscoggin County Jail in Auburn, officials said.
Additionally details haven’t been released, but family members said that the boy found McCoy’s 9 mm pistol and accidentally shot himself with the gun, the Lewiston Sun Journal reported.
Two other children were removed from the home after DHHS investigated the conditions there, the local paper reported.
“We would like to thank the Lewiston Police Department and DHHS for their continued assistance with this investigation,” the state DPS said in a statement. “The investigation remains ongoing.”
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