Background: A section of the 3100 block of Qualynn Drive in Nashville, Tennessee (Google Maps). Inset left: Steven Lamont Ricks (GoFundMe). Inset right: Steven Lamont Phillips (Metropolitan Nashville Police Department).
A Tennessee father taking a nap after playing with his 6-year-old son awoke to the sound of a gunshot and learned that the boy shot himself with a gun in the dad's pocket, authorities say.
Steven Lamont Phillips, 56, has been charged with criminal homicide in the death of his son, identified in a GoFundMe as Steven Lamont Ricks. Phillips was originally charged with aggravated child neglect and unlawful gun possession after the shooting, but the charges were upgraded to criminal homicide after the boy died.
On Saturday, at a home on the 3100 block of Qualynn Drive in Nashville, the defendant was reportedly caring for his son. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Tennessean, the boy's legal guardian — Phillips' sister — was also present, but at some point, she went to take a nap.
Phillips stated that he was doing yard work outside when he found a gun in a ditch. He reportedly put the .380 caliber pistol in his pocket and went back inside.
The defendant played with his son, but fatigue apparently set in with him, too. He fell asleep on the floor with the pistol in his pocket "after playing with the child in the living room," the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department announced. He said he then "awoke to the sound of a gunshot."
The sound, as well as a muzzle flash, spurred him from his sleep, and he saw that Steven had shot himself in the head, police said. Phillips then reportedly yelled for his sister to call 911.
The boy was rushed to a hospital, where he was put on life support and later pronounced dead. Phillips was arrested the next day, the newspaper reported, adding that authorities said he was not allowed to possess a weapon as he is a convicted felon.
When investigators asked the father why he didn't report the gun after finding it, he allegedly "responded that his phone was dead," and when asked why he didn't use his sister's phone, he said that when he got back inside, "he started playing with his son and did not think about it," per the affidavit.
Steven's fundraiser remembers him as "Junebug," a boy with autism who "brought so much joy and life to our family."
"He had so much life ahead of him, and now it's been cut short in the most heartbreaking way," the GoFundMe adds. "We are devastated by the loss of Junebug, who was shot and killed at just 6 years old. Our family is struggling to cope with this unimaginable pain."
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