A 16-month-old boy is recovering after police say another child found an unsecured gun and fired it inside a Southridge Park Apartments unit in Jackson late Tuesday. The toddler was shot in the abdomen and taken first to Henry Ford Jackson Hospital, then transferred to C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor. Hospital staff say he is stable and expected to make a full recovery. Officers locked down the building on Warwick Court while investigators and prosecutors worked to figure out who had access to the weapon.
Jackson County prosecutors identified the alleged gun owner as 25-year-old Devon’te Marcellous Rowe. He was arraigned before Magistrate Jake Dickerson on a single felony count of violating Michigan’s safe-storage law. Magistrate Dickerson set a $1,500 personal-recognizance bond, and Rowe is due back in court for a probable-cause conference on July 10 before Jackson County District Judge Daniel Goostrey. Prosecutors say the charge carries substantial prison exposure. Family members have called the shooting an accident, according to MLive.
Jackson Deputy Police Chief Sergio Garcia told FOX 47 that officers were first called to Henry Ford Jackson around 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, then headed to secure the scene at Southridge Park Apartments on Warwick Court. Neighbors described a rush of police and ambulances, and one resident, Jonathan Mathis, told the station that the incident should be a wake-up call about keeping guns locked up around kids. Police have described the shooting as accidental while the investigation continues.
What prosecutors allege
Jackson County Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Hull told investigators that another child found a firearm tucked beneath a couch and pulled the trigger, hitting the toddler. Hull called the situation “breathtaking negligence.” Jackson County Prosecutor Kelsey Guernsey said this is the third case her office has brought under Michigan’s secure-storage law, according to reporting by MLive.
Michigan’s secure-storage law and penalties
Michigan’s secure-storage law, Public Act 17 of 2023, requires firearm owners to keep unattended guns unloaded and locked or stored in a locked box or container when it is reasonably known that a minor may be present. The law took effect on Feb. 13, 2024. State guidance explains that penalties range from a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail to felonies carrying maximums of five, 10 or 15 years, depending on whether a minor obtained the gun and whether the shot caused injury, serious impairment or death, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. A detailed breakdown of those sentencing ranges is available in a penalties summary from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
What’s next
Rowe’s case is set to move through Jackson County District Court, starting with the probable-cause conference on July 10. Magistrate Dickerson handled the arraignment, and Judge Goostrey will oversee the next phase. In the meantime, neighbors and local leaders are urging gun owners to double-check how firearms are stored and to take advantage of free gun lock programs when they are offered.
Police are asking anyone with information or video related to the incident to contact investigators as they continue to sort through what happened inside the Warwick Court apartment. State resources on secure storage and local gun lock distribution sites are available through the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
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