Kathleen Hopkins

@Khopkinsapp

TOMS RIVER – A Toms River man on Thursday acknowledged his guilt in the fatal shooting of a 6-year-old neighbor by his 4-year-old son.

Anthony R. Senatore, 35, of McCormick Drive, Toms River, admitted that a loaded, .22-caliber rifle he left unsecured in his home was used by his 4-year-old son to fatally shoot 6-year-old Brandon Holt on April 8, 2013.

He pleaded guilty to two counts of child endangerment, admitting he endangered Brandon, as well as his own children to whom his unsecured firearms were accessible.

At the time of the shooting, Senatore's children were ages 12, 8 and 4. In his home were five unsecured firearms, the loaded rifle and four shotguns, with ammunition nearby, authorities said.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office will ask Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels to sentence Senatore to three years in state prison, said Prosecutor Jim McClain. Daniels scheduled the sentencing for Feb. 5. Senatore remains free on $100,000 bail until then.

Brandon's parents, Christine and Ron Holt, did not attend the sentencing hearing, but Brandon's paternal grandmother did, accompanied by the family's attorney, Kevin L. Parsons of the Woodbridge law firm Gill and Chamas.

"They didn't have it in them to go,'' Parsons said of the child's parents. "There's still a lot of anger.''

Donna Elefante, the grandmother, "was there to put on a brave face for the family,'' Parsons said.

He said the family would have no comment on the plea bargain.

"My client, the Holts, understand it,'' Parsons said. "Are they thrilled with it? No, but we have gone over the letter of the law.

"It's another step forward in the process,'' the attorney said of the guilty plea. "It's not going to bring their son back.''

The Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office took over the case because relatives of Senatore have previously worked closely with law enforcement in Ocean County.

Senatore appeared unemotional in court as he answered questions posed to him by his attorney, Robert Ebberup, about the events that led up to the boy's death, according to Parsons.

Senatore acknowledged that at some point before the tragedy, he heard a noise in the middle of the night, took the rifle from its secured spot in the house, went downstairs to investigate and, upon finding nothing suspicious, went back upstairs and put the rifle underneath his bed, without securing it, Parsons said.

He acknowledged that on April 8, 2013, his son, then 4, was outside playing with Brandon, but came inside, retrieved the gun from underneath the bed, went back out and fired one shot that fatally wounded Brandon, Parsons said.

The child was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, where he died the next day.

Parsons said both the Senatore and Holt families moved away from McCormick Drive in the aftermath of the tragedy. The Holts have returned home, he said, while the Senatores are staying with family in Berkeley Township.

Once Senatore is sentenced, Parsons said he will reinstate a wrongful death lawsuit against Senatore and his wife, Melissa. The lawsuit is on hold while the criminal case against Senatore is pending, he said. The sentencing will put a close to the criminal case.

The plea bargain calls for two, three-year prison terms, running concurrently, according to McClain. One of the child endangerment charges to which Senatore pleaded guilty carries a prison term of five to 10 years, but the prosecutor's office agreed to treat it as a lesser crime, according to a news release issued by the prosecutor. Senatore will be required to forfeit his weapons and firearms purchaser identification card, under terms of the plea bargain, the news release said.

Senatore was initially charged with six counts of child endangerment, one for each unsecured weapon that was left accessible to his own children and one for leaving the weapon that killed Brandon accessible to his 4-year-old. Four of the charges will be dismissed under terms of the plea bargain.

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Kathleen Hopkins: (732)643-4202; Khopkins@app.com