A homicide, by definition, means that a person committed an action that killed another person. In Indiana, reckless homicide also means someone performed that action.

In June, 38-year-old Toney Keith White II, of the 1500 block of Fourth Street, pleaded guilty to that charge, admitting he behaved in a reckless manner: handling a firearm that went off, sending a bullet into his 5-year-old daughter, killing her in the late night of Feb. 13. He also admitted to using a firearm in a crime.

According to court documents, after loading and unloading the guns, pulling back the slides and playing with the safeties and the trigger, White reloaded one last gun, a chrome 9 mm handgun. A witness told police that as he turned to watch television, he heard the gun fire.

When the witness turned back around, he saw White, the gun in his hand and pointed in the direction where his 5-year-old daughter had been kneeling just moments before, according to court documents.

In exchange for White’s admission, a much more serious charge of neglect of a dependent causing death was dismissed.

On Friday, Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull sentenced White to a total of 16 years in prison. But not before she read a number of letters, scanned through lists totaling more than 200 names, and heard the child’s mother characterize White’s behavior as something outside of everyone’s control.

One letter writer, who identified herself as White’s aunt, said in an earlier time, Mya’s death would have been viewed as a "tragic accident."

"However, in this decade with so much controversy on the subject of gun control, the people demand their pound of flesh," wrote Myrtle Shipley. She went on to ask the judge for leniency for White and that, if given community service, he be ordered to speak about his actions to "begin to repair the lives of our family, those left behind."

Mya’s mother also asked for leniency, saying she knew in her heart he would never hurt any one of his children.

"I know in my heart this was an accident," said Amanda Teague, his girlfriend and Mya’s mother. "He is a good person … He’s not even had time to grieve with me or his family."

White’s attorney, Robert W. Gevers, stressed the tremendous grief his client felt, calling it a "tragic, tragic incident."

"It is his own child," Gevers said, asking for a lengthy period of probation and counseling.

White said he had no words to adequately convey the grief he felt and that he missed his daughter so very much.

He asked for the opportunity to be an advocate for gun safety and to have time to mourn with his family.

"Jail is no place to grieve," White said.

Prosecutors characterized White’s behavior very differently, reminding the court that he had just been released from prison on probation at the time of the shooting.

He told police he bought the gun on Craigslist not long before, a gun he was prohibited from possessing as a term of his probation.

And it wasn’t the only gun in the house. Two other guns were in the room at the time, Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Stacey Speith said.

After the shooting, the gun that fired the fatal shot was wrapped in a blanket on a sofa. The other guns, with red stains on them, were hidden in a drawer, she said.

In the background of the 911 call, White was heard yelling to tell police it was an accident, Speith said.

Since his arrest, White has repeatedly pinned the blame for the gunshot on someone else who was in the room at the time, she said.

As Speith talked, White’s family and friends gathered in the front row of the gallery began to voice their disagreement and displeasure, drawing a word of caution from Gull.

Parents, Speith said, are to keep their children safe.

"She was in her own home and she wasn’t safe," she said.

"Everything about this case has not been about Mya. It has been about him. This is not an accident. Accidents are things that cannot be avoided."

Gull agreed. She sentenced White to six years in prison on the reckless homicide charge and an additional 10 years on the firearms sentencing enhancement.

White must serve that sentence after another sentence of 18 months remaining on a previous conviction for possession of narcotics. He was on probation on that case at the time of the shooting.

"With all due respect, you put yourself in a position you didn’t have to be in," she said, shaking her head and looking at a picture of the little girl. "Your child, who is adorable, is gone."

Calling his actions "idiotic," Gull too refused to characterize them as an accident.

"(It was) a consequence of your behavior, of your reckless conduct," she said to White.

rgreen@jg.net