Prosecutor: Mom went back to work after discovering son, 8, had shot 4-year-old sister
Mark Caudill
ASHLAND - The 27-year-old Hayesville mother suspected of leaving her two children alone, leading to an 8-year-old boy shooting his 4-year-old sister, will be back in court Wednesday.
Alyssa Edwards, 27, is charged with endangering children, a third-degree felony, in connection with the weekend incident. She also was charged with misdemeanor endangering children.
Edwards was in Ashland County Common Pleas Court late Monday afternoon, where her bond was set at $30,000 cash.
Edwards teared up several times when Judge Ron Forsthoefel asked about her family and financial situations.
Prosecutor Chris Tunnell then offered details of the incident, which happened Saturday morning.
"The defendant's husband left for work," Tunnell said. "His understanding was the children would be dropped off at a babysitter."
Instead, the prosecutor said, Edwards went to her job at a horse-training farm, leaving the kids alone.
At some point, the 8-year-old obtained a .22-caliber rifle from a gun cabinet; got ammunition, which was stored in a separate place; loaded the gun; and shot his sister three or four times, the prosecutor said.
The details were unclear, but Tunnell said Edwards was contacted at work at 10 a.m. She returned home, checked on the 4-year-old girl, clocked back in at work at 11 a.m. and worked until noon, he added.
At some point in the early afternoon, the girl began to urinate through a bullet wound in her abdomen, Tunnell said.
"At that point, for the first time, the husband was contacted," the prosecutor said.
The girl initially was taken to University Hospitals Samaritan Medical Center in Ashland before being transported to a Cleveland hospital.
"She is expected to recover," Tunnell said. "(But) doctors are concerned urine would infect the wound. Otherwise, the child is doing well, given the circumstances."
If Edwards posts bond, she cannot have contact with her children.
mcaudill@gannett.com
419-521-7219
Twitter: @MNJCaudill