The family of a 2-year-old child who shot and killed his father in North Carolina is grieving.
According to Phyllis Holland, her 2-year-old great-grandson shot and killed his 29-year-old father, Markovia Durham, in a Gastonia apartment.
"The daddy was sitting on the couch, and the baby got up on the couch and picked the gun up from behind the daddy," Holland said. "Picked the gun up, not knowing it was a real gun, and put it to the daddy's back and pulled the trigger thinking the gun was a toy."
Holland says that Durham had recently purchased the firearm.
"He keeps the gun away," Holland explained. "He kept the gun away from him. At that moment, he wasn't thinking."
When the child heard the loud gunshot, he fled outside, relatives stated. According to neighbors, the apartments were overrun with police officers at about 9:30 p.m. Sunday.
"I just hate it for that child because his life is messed up because, you know, it was his daddy," said neighbor Tasha Phillips. "And if he did that, that little boy is going to go through something for the rest of his life, and it just hurts me because I have grandkids of my own."
Crime scene tape was still on the ground outside the door on Monday.
The family refuses to point fingers. They're now attempting to explain to the 2-year-old, who continues seeking his father.
"He wants his Dada," Holland said. "He's only a 2-year-old. He doesn't understand."
The Gastonia Police Department has not revealed if anyone would be charged in the shooting. On Monday, there were staff members from the department of social services (DSS) at the site interrogating relatives.
People, please keep your children away from loaded guns.
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