Nationwide — Keiara Bickett, a 28-year-old African American mother from Indianapolis, Indiana, has been charged with neglect after her 2-year-old son fatally shot himself with her gun while sitting in a car beside his 9-year-old sister. She has also lost custody of her daughter for now.
The incident happened on June 19 around 3 p.m. in a CVS parking lot near East 46th Street and Keystone Avenue. Bickett called 911, telling dispatchers that her son, Javarius, had shot himself in the head. He was taken to Riley Hospital but did not survive.
Javarius’s sister, then 8 years old, was in the front seat when the shooting happened. A judge has since issued a no-contact order between Keiara and her daughter, who will stay with her grandmother until at least the next court hearing on September 22.
The incident happened on June 19 around 3 p.m. in a CVS parking lot near East 46th Street and Keystone Avenue. Bickett called 911, telling dispatchers that her son, Javarius, had shot himself in the head. He was taken to Riley Hospital but did not survive..
Her daughter later told police that Javarius climbed onto her lap while their mother drove. She said she was playing a game on her phone when she heard a “loud noise” and saw her brother fall.
Investigators later recovered a Glock 26 Gen 5 handgun from the driver’s side floorboard with a fired cartridge in the chamber and a bullet lodged in the passenger seat area.
Bickett’s mother, Melissa Etheridge, continues to grieve the loss of her grandson and defends her daughter. “It was an absolute accident,” she told WTHR. “She may have had negligence for not having the gun in a safe place, but she would never harm any of her children. She loves her kids to death. It’s tearing me up. It’s tearing her daughter up.”
Bickett is facing a Level 1 felony charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death, which carries a 20-to-40-year sentence if convicted. She plans to hire an attorney before her next hearing and must also find a new place to live since she lives with her mother.
“I know she should have punishment for what happened, but that’s just too much,” Etheridge said. “Everybody’s painting a picture of her that she’s an evil person. She is a great mother. She takes care of her children. She does not do anything that would ever harm her children. She takes very good care of them. They have everything they want, everything they need.”