DETROIT – Mariah Davis, 5, went into her grandmother's bedroom about midnight May 11 along with her 3-year-old brother and a 1-year-old neighbor and found a handgun under a pillow.
Mariah shot herself in the neck and died from the wounds days later.
Her grandmother, 65-year-old Patricia McNeal, and grandfather, 65-year-old Frederick Davis, both face involuntary manslaughter charges, three counts of child abuse and felony firearms charges. Davis has a prior drug conviction, which is why he is facing an additional charge of felon in possession.
On Friday at their preliminary hearing, the courtroom filled with a tearful family. Defense attorneys did their best to show Judge Shannon Holmes Mariah's shooting was a tragic accident, not a crime.
Two police officers read statements taken from McNeal and Davis at the scene. Detroit police homicide detective Michael Crosby had asked McNeal about her reaction after hearing the shot fired.
Officer: Did you go into the room?
McNeal: No, I couldn't bring myself to go in. I got on my knees and prayed.
Judge Holmes ordered McNeal and Davis to trial.
"At least a week and a half before the shooting the gun was under the pillow. The night before the gun was under the pillow, the night of that baby's shooting she was seen going into that room where that gun had been under the pillow and nobody did anything to secure that gun," the judge said.
Prosecutors pressed their case as gross negligence. There was no lock on the bedroom door. The gun was under the sheet and under a pillow. There was no gun lock on it.
Holmes said she couldn't overlook the negligence and ordered the case to proceed.