Advertisement Grand jury indicts man in deadly shooting of 8-year-old Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A Jefferson County grand jury indicted a Louisville man, who admitted to fatally shooting an 8-year-old boy.Elgin Anders told WLKY it was an accident, but he is now facing a reckless homicide charge.The indictment came one month after Andre O’Neal Jr. was killed and is a day family members had hoped would come."We was trying to find peace and some comfort in it, and I think this kind of did it,” the boy’s aunt, Gina O’Neal, said.Family members said the indictment won't bring the 8-year-old with a big laugh and smile back, but it begins the healing for those who loved Andre.Last month, Anders told WLKY he was visiting a woman babysitting Andre at a home on North 34th Street. "It fell on the floor, ricocheted, fired from the revolver back of the hammer, fired and hit him," Anders said.Anders said several adults and at least four children were inside when he was taking a gun out of his pocket and it slipped out of his grasp.Anders faces up to five years in prison if convicted, a sentence O'Neal's family doesn't believe is a fitting punishment."No time is long enough for an innocent child. It's one thing when you're out here just doing this and being a menace to society, but he was an innocent child. No, you can't put a time on a child's life,” O’Neal said.Anders told WLKY he blames himself and is sorry for what happened.That provides little solace to the victim's family, who said there are too many weapons ending too many young lives.“People are recklessly playing with guns every day, every day. It's going to have to start within the homes and within the community. Like my shirt says, put the guns down. We want our city back. It's just too much,” O’Neal said.Anders has a limited criminal history.His only misdemeanor is a current case of drug possession.