FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A 22-year-old man was arrested Wednesday and accused of manslaughter following the shooting death of his 18-month-old niece in Flagler County in September, Sheriff Rick Staly announced Thursday.
The Flager County Sheriff’s Office was investigating after 1-year-old Ja’liyah Allen was shot and killed on Sept. 3 in Palm Coast.
Staly said the young girl’s uncle, 22-year-old C.J. Nelson, faces manslaughter charges but had been in jail since the shooting after being accused of probation violation.
Staly said the girl was playing with her mother in a hallway of the home, waiting to take a shower, when Nelson was in a bedroom. Investigators said Nelson was handling a “multi-caliber assault pistol” when it accidentally went off and a bullet went through the wall and struck his niece in the head.
The 18-month-old girl was taken to a local hospital where she died.
Staly said Nelson’s DNA and latent prints were located on the gun after processing at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement’s Crime Lab. Investigators said a blood draw also showed Nelson was high on THC at the time of the incident.
Nelson continues to be held on no bond.
The charge of manslaughter with a firearm holds a penalty of up to 30 years in the state prison system, according to State Attorney R.J. Larizza.
“Don’t handle firearms when you’re intoxicated. Whether it’s alcohol. Whether it’s marijuana, or even if you are on prescription medication. Guns and alcohol. Guns and drugs do not mix. They make a deadly combination,” Larizza said.
Staly was even more direct when it came to how upset he was over the preventable death of a child.
“We are often criticized for arresting people for marijuana and doing search warrants on marijuana because it’s so harmless. This is a prime example of why marijuana and THC are not harmless. In this case, it ultimately led to the death of an 18-month-old,” he said.
Staly said the sheriff’s office is prepared to make other arrests in this case because they believe people inside the home were destroying evidence before deputies arrived.
While it’s unclear how many people were in the house at the time of the shooting, investigators said they have an idea who was directly involved in destroying evidence. Right now, detectives are working to prove who did what before securing additional arrest warrants.