5-year-old boy shot himself in Hollywood on New Year’s Day, cops say. Father arrested
A 5-year-old shot himself on New Year’s Day while sitting on the couch beside his father in a Hollywood apartment, police say. The boy’s father is now charged with child neglect.
Travoynne Martin, 32, admitted to removing his Taurus FX 4 handgun from his waistband after sitting on the couch to watch TV, according to police. He said he placed the weapon on the table as his son sat next to him.
Shortly after, Martin told police he heard two loud bangs. His son, in tears, lunged at him and said “I’m sorry.” He noticed the boy had blood coming out of his left arm and rushed him to a hospital.
Martin appeared in court Wednesday after being charged with child neglect and culpable negligence. He was ordered to have no contact with his son, though the mother of the boy vouched for Martin, stating that he “really, really loves his child.”
During Martin’s court appearance, Broward County Court Judge Catalina Avalos shook her head while sharing some of her thoughts.
“Mr. Martin, please don’t answer me, but I don’t know what you were thinking sir... because he’s a child,” Avalos said. “He doesn’t know if it’s a toy or not a toy, whether you tell him five times that he shouldn’t do it. It’s not on him. It’s on you. You understand that?”
Martin is no longer being held at the Broward jail as of Thursday afternoon.
How did the child get the gun?
Police say a neighbor contacted them, sharing that Martin banged on his door frantically with blood on his right shoulder. The neighbor also said he witnessed Martin, his girlfriend and his son get into a car and speed off.
According to investigators, they later received a call about a young child with a gunshot wound at Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital. They spoke with Martin and his girlfriend as the 5-year-old boy was rushed into surgery.
The child told police that he was sitting on the couch with his father when he saw the gun on the table and “touched it and squeezed it.” He said he knew he wasn’t supposed to touch guns.
Police also obtained a search warrant and found eight guns scattered around the apartment that were “easily accessible to anyone.” All but one of them were loaded.
