South Texas mother charged after 3-year-old son shot with revolver

Yesenia Cantu, 20, was charged with making a firearm accessible to a child after her 3-year-old son accidentally was shot while handling the gun. Yesenia Cantu, 20, was charged with making a firearm accessible to a child after her 3-year-old son accidentally was shot while handling the gun. Image 1 of / 36 Caption Close South Texas mother charged after 3-year-old son shot with revolver 1 / 36 Back to Gallery

A 20-year-old South Texas mother was arrested this week after her 3-year-old son was shot in the chest with a revolver he found inside of a vehicle, according to court documents.

Yesenia Cantu faces a Class A misdemeanor charge of making a firearm accessible to a child, which carries up to one year in prison if convicted. The McAllen Monitor reports Justice of the Peace Marcos Ochoa issued her a $10,000 bond, and that she was formally charged Monday.

The incident occurred at about 7:10 p.m. on Oct. 24, 2015.

Hidalgo County Sheriff's Deputies met with Cantu’s aunt who told them she was across the street from her house when Cantu and the child arrived at her house. The aunt said the young boy got out of the car and walked across the street to her while holding a revolver, according to a criminal complaint obtained by mySA.com.

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The aunt asked the boy if she could see the gun in order to get it out of his hands, but the gun discharged as she was taking it away from him, according to the complaint.

Cantu later told deputies she found the revolver in her ex-husband’s car and she placed it in the center console of her mother’s car, which she was driving at the time of the shooting incident, according to the complaint.

She told deputies she was unsure when, or how her son knew the gun was inside the vehicle.

The McAllen Monitor reported the child survived the shooting after several surgeries.

twhite@mysa.com

Twitter: @tylerlwhite