In what her Boston criminal defense lawyer is calling the “second-most painful thing to ever happen to her,” Lakeisha Gadson is on trial for the Massachusetts involuntary manslaughter of her 8-year-old son. Liquarry Jefferson was accidentally shot by his cousin, now 10, in 2007 with a handgun owned by the victim’s half-brother, Jayquan McConnico, then 15. If convicted, Gadson faces a maximum 20-years behind bars. She also is charged with Massachusetts assault and battery on a child with substantial injury, reckless endangerment of a child, misleading police, and firearms violations.
Prosecutors are holding Gadson accountable for her younger son’s death because they say that she allowed McConnico to keep a loaded gun in a dresser that was easily accessible to children. Gadson maintains that she never gave McConnico permission to own a gun and that she didn’t know it was in their home. The teenager was also charged in his younger brother’s death and with the reckless and wanton storage of an unregistered pistol in an area that a child could reach. He pleaded guilty to the charges and will stay at a youth detention center until he turns 21.
On Wednesday, Jefferson’s cousin testified about the accidental Roxbury shooting. He said that his cousin showed him the gun, which they both thought was not loaded. The boy accidentally pulled the trigger, shooting Jefferson in the stomach. Jefferson was pronounced dead at Boston Medical Center.
Gadson, 33, has five children. She originally told police that gang members had forced their way into the apartment but later recanted her story and admitted that her nephew accidental shot her son.
Boston, Massachusetts involuntary manslaughter is a serious crime that involves the accidental killing of another person because of criminal or reckless negligence. A person charged with this crime is someone that prosecutors do not believe intentionally intended to kill the victim.
10-year-old testifies he killed his cousin by accident, Boston.com, August 3, 2010
Mom on trial in Liquarry’s death, Boston Herald, August 2, 2010
Related Web Resources:
Manslaughter, Cornell Law School
Murder v. Manslaughter, Nolo
It is important that you are represented by a Boston involuntary manslaughter law firm that knows how to pursue the best outcome possible for your Massachusetts criminal case.