A child in Franklin, Indiana, shot themself in the hand after finding an unsecured handgun in a master bathroom cabinet on August 22, and now both adults in the household face felony neglect charges. Amy Marie Pennington, 33, and Jason Roy Greear, 32, were each arrested on a warrant Wednesday and later released on bond, accused of one count of neglect of a dependent with bodily injury as a Level 6 felony.
What the Court Documents Describe
According to a probable cause affidavit filed with Johnson Superior Court 1 on Tuesday and reported by the Daily Journal, Pennington was asleep on a couch with another child when she awoke to a loud pop. The gun, which belonged to Greear and is usually kept in his truck, had been left in the home that day while he was away. Greear typically takes the weapon with him when he leaves the house, but on this occasion it remained inside, and the affidavit states he does not own a gun safe.
The child had retrieved the firearm from a cabinet in the master bathroom. Court documents obtained by WTHR specify that the bullet struck the child's left ring finger, tearing off skin but leaving the bone intact. Pennington called a relative to watch the other children before driving the wounded child to Johnson Memorial Hospital, according to the affidavit.
A Short Drive, a Longer Recovery
Countryview Estates, the Hospital Road mobile home community where the couple lives, sits less than a mile from Johnson Memorial Hospital, according to a listing from the Better Business Bureau. From there, the child was transferred to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for reconstructive surgery. Per WTHR's earlier reporting, Riley treated 229 pediatric gunshot victims over a six-year span through 2023 and runs a Safety Store that distributes free gun locks to families.
The affidavit notes that Greear had told the children they could ask to see the gun, and Pennington told police she thought it was kept high enough to be out of reach of the children in the home, per the affidavit. Greear has since said he plans to buy a gun safe, the same document states.
A Correction on the Gun Lock
The Daily Journal issued a correction clarifying that Franklin police gave the couple a free gun lock — designed to block the firing mechanism and prevent accidental shootings — after wrapping up their investigation, but did not return the firearm itself as the outlet's initial report had stated. That distinction matters in a case built entirely around the question of whether the weapon was properly secured in the first place.
Why Prosecutors Reached for Neglect Charges
Indiana has no dedicated Child Access Prevention or mandatory safe-storage law, which forces prosecutors to rely on broader child neglect statutes whenever a minor gets hold of an unsecured gun, as detailed by CBS News Chicago. State lawmakers have repeatedly introduced safe-storage bills in recent sessions, but those measures have stalled, the outlet reports. Everytown for Gun Safety recorded at least 27 unintentional shootings involving Indiana children under 18 in 2023 alone, resulting in nine child deaths — nearly double the rate seen in neighboring Illinois, which does enforce mandatory storage laws, according to the same CBS News Chicago report.
Under Indiana Code § 35-46-1-4, a Level 6 felony neglect conviction carries a sentencing range of six months to two and a half years, with an advisory term of one year and fines up to $10,000, according to a breakdown from Keffer Hirschauer LLP. It's Indiana's lowest felony tier, and judges retain discretion under a separate statute to enter such convictions as Class A misdemeanors instead. Whether prosecutors will pursue that felony penalty or push for misdemeanor conversion for Pennington and Greear remains an open question.
State Guidance Exists — But Isn't Law
Indiana law does direct the Indiana Department of Education and Indiana State Police to maintain safe firearm storage guidelines and require school districts to hand out gun safety materials to parents, per state guidance under Indiana Code § 20-19-3-30.4. That guidance explicitly recommends storing firearms unloaded, in locked safes, separate from ammunition. Research from the RAND Corporation has found that state Child Access Prevention laws are among the most effective firearm policy tools for reducing unintentional injuries, deaths, and youth suicides tied to guns — though Indiana, notably, has no such law on its books.
