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Arlington Police have charged a 21-year-old man with manslaughter after a 4-year-old boy was accidentally shot shortly after midnight while celebrating the New Year.
According to Arlington Police, gunshots were reported at an apartment complex on the 700 block of Washington Drive, near Collins Street and Lamar Boulevard, around 12:36 a.m. and a caller said he saw two people leaving the complex with a bleeding child.
When officers arrived, they spotted a trail of blood leading to a residence. They entered the unlocked apartment and found what was described as a “crime scene”, but no one was inside.
Shortly thereafter, police were notified by officers in Grand Prairie that a 4-year-old boy had been taken to hospital there and the child had died from an apparent gunshot wound to the head. .
Police confirmed to NBC 5 on Friday afternoon that they interviewed four adults, two who were in the hospital and two who returned to the apartment after leaving the hospital, who told police they were were in the apartment at the time of the shooting.
Lt. Christopher Cook of the Arlington Police Department said Friday afternoon that one of the adults initially told police the bullet was a stray bullet that entered the apartment from outside through the sliding door glass.
“We were able to debunk that story and determine from the ballistic evidence at the scene that this bullet did not enter through the apartment window,” Cook said. “There was damage to the window in this apartment, but it was previous damage.”
Cook said one of the occupants later told police they were partying and dancing inside the apartment, pulled out a gun and she accidentally hit the child in the head.
“Again, another tragic, certainly preventable, case,” Cook said.
Information released by the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the child on Friday morning as Messiah Taplin, 4, from Corsicana. The medical examiner’s office confirmed the child was shot in the head at the Arlington Apartments residence and taken almost 10 miles to Baylor Scott & White Emergency Hospital in South Grand Prairie where he died at around 1:15 a.m.
No further details were released about who held the gun when it exploded, or the relationship with the child.
Later Friday, police charged Zantyler Foster-Hooks, 21, with manslaughter and sentenced him to Arlington Jail.
Arlington Police Department Zantyler Foster hooks, 21.
Police did not disclose the relationship between the child and the adults in the apartment, but said he lived there. They added that the child’s biological mother lives outside the area and was not present when her son was shot.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to contact Detective Charles Cisneros at 817-575-3169. Tipsters can also remain anonymous by contacting Tarrant County Crime Stoppers at 817-469-TIPS.
Emilio Ramos of Telemundo 39 contributed to this report.
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