Detroit mom charged with safe storage violations, child abuse after daughter's accidental death
Detroit mom charged after daughter's fatal shooting
Tonya Johnson has been charged in felony firearm, second-degree child abuse, and safe storage violations after leaving a loaded firearm in her vehicle where one of her kids got a hold of the weapon and fatally shot his 6-year-old sister.
(FOX 2) - The mother of a 6-year-old killed by accidental gunfire after one of her children obtained the woman's firearm and shot another in the head made her first appearance in court on Thursday.
Tonya Johnson, 41, of Detroit was charged with safe storage violations, child abuse, and felony firearm after allegedly leaving a loaded weapon unattended and unsecured in her vehicle earlier this week.
Police say her five children were inside the vehicle at the time Johnson's 11-year-old son grabbed the weapon and fired it, striking another child in the head.
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Appearing by Zoom on Thursday afternoon, Johnson pleaded not guilty to more than nine counts after a deadly shooting on March 2 left her 6-year-old daughter dead.
The Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor called the incident a "tragedy that was avoidable."
"There is going to be life-long trauma that this young man is going to suffer as a result of shooting his sister," Aniela Bosca said, "knowing that he killed her, that the other children that were in the vehicle watching this happen and this was negligible."
She added that Johnson has a concealed pistol license and that she understands the rules about storing her firearm.
Tonya Johnson, 41, of Detroit in court.
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Johnson wiped away tears during her arraignment. She was charged with three counts of second-degree child abuse, four counts of felony firearm, in addition to safe storage violation counts.
Working as a DoorDash driver, on Monday Johnson had driven to a restaurant on Harper near Gratiot to pick up food, and left her five kids in the car.
Investigators say that's when her son got ahold of a handgun that was left under the front seat and shot his sister in the head, killing her.
Police added the son told them the weapon had always been left in the vehicle, but did not know it was loaded. A further investigation revealed other unsecured weapons at Johnson's home.
"I can tell you in just talking to Ms. Johnson, nobody feels worse right now than Ms. Johnson," said Phil Ragan, her defense attorney.
6-year-old fatally shot in the head with unsecured gun on Detroit's east side
Fitzgerald said it is unclear that another sibling inside the vehicle shot the other, "We're still working through it."
What's next:
The judge granted her a $30,000 bond, cash surety. She was ordered to have no contact with her children.
She'll be back in court on March 13.
The Source: A court hearing and previous reporting was cited for this story.