HOUSTON – A Harris County sheriff's sergeant has been indicted after his 4-year-old stepson accidentally shot himself in the head in 2018, according to the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Tommy Anderson was charged with making a firearm accessible to a child. Anderson is the boy's stepfather. Officials said the gun was not his duty weapon.

The shooting was reported July 10 at about 6:30 p.m. at a home in the 31000 block of Dunham Lake Drive, just off U.S. Highway 290, between Cypress and Hockley.

While the gun was kept in a safe, the safe was not locked, allowing the boy to open it, the District Attorney's Office said.

"This particular gun did not have a safety on it. So all the child had to do was pull the trigger," said Assistant District Attorney Gilbert Sawtelle, of the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

Anderson was not home at the time of the shooting, according to authorities. His attorney, Letitia Quiñones, told KPRC2 by phone Thursday she was confident her client would be exonerated, saying Anderson's family supports him throughout his pending case.

Prosecutors said they waited to present the case to a grand jury until the boy underwent multiple surgeries.

"He's doing miraculously well. He actually started kindergarten the week before last. All things considered, it's great he hasn't been affected as much as what could have happened," Sawtelle said, describing the boy's recovery.

Anderson is due in court Friday. A spokesman for the Harris County Sheriff's Office told KPRC 2 that Anderson would be placed on civilian status, pending the outcome of his case.

The charge, making a firearm accessible to a child, is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail, if Anderson is convicted.