KENTWOOD, Mich. — A man charged in the shooting death of a 2-year-old in Kentwood will stand trial.
The boy shot himself with an unsecured firearm at Hidden Lakes Apartments on May 19, according to the Kentwood Police Department (KPD). The toddler died later at the hospital.
Markus Nevills Jr. was subsequently arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, authorities said.
Monday was his preliminary hearing at the Kentwood Justice Center in front of Judge Amanda Sterkenburg. FOX 17 was at the hearing.
Nevills' then-girlfriend Jikya Reddick was the first witness to testify. Reddick, who is the mother of the child, stated that she and Nevills had been smoking weed, scrolling through social media and laughing when the shooting happened.
"We just heard a boom," Reddick said.
She said they then briefly argued about guns in her home, which she was opposed to because she had other children who played with toy guns and didn't want them to confuse the fakes ones with a real one.
Kentwood PD's Tony Beck was the officer who responded that night. He testified that Nevills told him the gun was wedged into the couch cushion.
Kentwood Detective Jeff Woollam testified that Nevills told him the reason he carried a gun was because "he had some troubles in his life." The gun was a Glock 22 .40.
He said Nevills told him that he didn't know the shooting happened until the shot went off, and that Nevills observed the 2-year-old "was calling out for his mama and was alive at the time."
Assistant Prosecutor Courtney Panter said that Nevills' negligence led to the death of the child.
"The defendant knew that danger could’ve been avoided. Again, I'm going to point to the defendant's own statement that he shouldn’t have left the gun. He should’ve put it back in the drawer. And, furthermore, that it would’ve just been avoided if it was kept in the drawer," Panter said during her closing arguments.
Banter also mentioned Nevills' statements to Detective Woollam, saying the firearm belonged to him but he did not pull the trigger.
Nevills' defense attorney, Jeffrey P. Kirchhoff, argued in closing statement that he wasn't negligent.
"It's apparent he did not just leave it on the couch. He stuffed it between cushions in attempt to keep it in one place," Kirchoff said. "And then it goes on and says ‘upon leaving the area unsupervised,' well it was shown that it was supervised, that he, in the reenactment, in Exhibit No. 1, he was about a foot to a foot and a half away."
Regardless, Judge Sterkenburg concluded that there was negligence and enough probable cause to bind the case over to circuit court.
"You simply cannot have a firearm and a child together," she said.
KPD says the firearm belonged to Nevills, who was in a relationship with the boy’s mother at the time of the shooting.
