PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Two people were arrested Friday after a 2-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed himself in Port St. Lucie earlier this week, police said.
The shooting occurred at about 7 p.m., at a home located in the 5700 block of Northwest Zenith Drive.
WATCH BELOW: Mother, fiancé arrested after toddler fatally shoots self
Police said both the child's mother, Natalie Cruz, 24, and her fiancé, Quintenn Wesley, 25, face charges in the case.
Investigators said when officers arrived they found the boy on a bed in the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head.
The child was taken to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital but later pronounced dead.
Port St Lucie
Police say 2-year-old shot himself with gun owned by mother's fiancé
A preliminary investigation revealed that there were five adults and two children in the home at the time of the shooting.
Police said Cruz and the 2-year-old were in the master bedroom while Wesley, his sister, his father and his grandmother were in other areas of the home along with an infant child.
"The mother was on the bed with the child when the mother heard a gunshot. She looked and saw the 2-year-old child with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun next to him," police said in a written statement.
Investigators said Wesley was the owner of the 9 mm handgun they believe was used in the shooting, and he "kept a total of two handguns unsecured in the master bedroom."
Police said both handguns were seized as evidence along with a spent shell casing and the projectile.
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During their investigation, police said they learned that Cruz was a convicted felon in Florida.
Both Cruz and Wesley were taken into custody by U.S. Marshals in the parking lot of a Dollar General in Port St. Lucie.
"They are the responsible care-givers for this juvenile child and they are responsible for providing for its care and safe environment, and they failed to do that by leaving two loaded firearms in the child’s proximity," said Port St. Lucie Police Chief Leo Niemczyk.
Cruz faces a charge with one count of possession of a firearm or ammo by a convicted felon, a second-degree felony, and one count of culpable negligence — allowing a minor access to a firearm resulting in injury or death, a third-degree felony.
"You are responsible for that firearm at all times and if you are unable to care for that firearm during a given time, it needs to be secured, locked in a safe place where nobody, especially a child, can get their hands on it," said Niemczyk.
Wesley was charged with one count of culpable negligence — allowing a minor access to a firearm resulting in injury or death, a third-degree felony.
“When I see how careless the handling of those firearms were, my sympathy for the mother and this gentleman kind of go out the window," said Niemczyk.
Both Cruz and Wesley were taken to the St. Lucie County jail. Cruz's bond was set at $55,000 and Wesley’s bond at $15,000.
