Insets (left to right): Carley Dials and Sean Perrin (Franklin County Sheriff's Office). Background: News footage of the apartment complex in Columbus, Ohio, where Cartier Smith fatally shot himself (WBNS).
An Ohio mother has avoided going to trial after her young son shot himself with a gun her boyfriend brought to their home.
Carley Dials, 30, was sentenced on Monday to six months of community control after pleading guilty to obstructing justice. She was originally charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering children after her 3-year-old son, Cartier Smith, died of a gunshot wound on Sept. 22, 2025. Dials was asleep in her bedroom with Sean Perrin, 32, when Cartier found the gun that Dials tried to hide and shot himself.
Perrin, who brought the gun to the home, pleaded guilty to reckless homicide and having a weapon under disability, meaning he was not legally allowed to possess one. An additional charge of having a weapon under disability was dropped as part of his plea agreement.
According to a report released by the Columbus Division of Police at the time, officers responded to a 911 call placed by Dials. While Dials made the call, Perrin fled the apartment. Police arrived to find Cartier with a gunshot wound, and the little boy was rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Perrin, who had been arrested in March 2025 for violating his parole in connection with a 2019 conviction on gun charges, was apprehended later by police.
Dials told police that around 3 a.m., she found Perrin's gun on the bedroom floor and hid it between the mattress and the wall before she went to sleep. Police said Cartier was able to find the gun when he came into the bedroom.
Perrin is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 10.
Comments