A Virginia man accused of accidentally shooting his 3-year-old son inside of his apartment earlier this month now faces multiple charges after the toddler was hospitalized with “life-altering” injuries.
Joshua Aaron Riley, 29, was arrested on Nov. 22, according to a Law&Crime review of the Richmond City Sheriff’s Office inmate database.
He faces two felony charges and a single misdemeanor charge. The misdemeanor charge is for allowing a child access to firearms and the felony counts are for Riley’s alleged possession of a Schedule I or II controlled substance and his alleged possession of a firearm while also having a controlled substance.
Additional charges could be forthcoming, Richmond police said Monday.
Riley’s 3-year-old son was shot on Nov. 16, according to NBC affiliate WWBT.
Police arrived on the scene after receiving word of gunshots at an apartment complex on Raven Street in Richmond around 10 a.m. Authorities said family members were seen hauling the injured child out of the building onto a walkway when police initially arrived.
But before the toddler was rushed to a local hospital, a neighbor, 13-year-old Jahnee Grays, told the WWBT she, her mother and other neighbors stepped up to help the boy as an ambulance made its way to the child. Grays said she considered the boy “like a little brother.”
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Background: A crime scene is established at an apartment complex in Richmond, Virginia in November after a 3-year-old boy was accidentally shot by his father, Joshua Aaron Riley, pictured inset. Background courtesy YouTube screengrab from CBS affiliate WTVR. Inset booking photo courtesy of Richmond Police Department.
“We was in the house, and we heard screaming. Then we came outside, the baby was lifting up, and then he lay back down. He didn’t wake up; he had a little hole in his back his neck, and then my mom wanted to go get a shirt. We put pressure on the back of his neck because now he wasn’t waking up,” Jahnee said on Nov. 16.
Richmond police Chief Rick Edwards said this past weekend that the episode tragically underlines the importance of gun safety in the home and the necessity of securing weapons.
“The Second Amendment is certainly a right, but it’s also a responsibility,” Edwards said. “And if it goes to a situation like this, you will be held responsible.”
Edwards added that the child is “lucky to be alive” after the shooting.
It is unclear if Riley has obtained an attorney.
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