TITUSVILLE, Florida – A 34-year-old man was arrested after a 9-year-old girl was accidentally shot by a juvenile relative on Saturday, December 7, 2019, in a wooded area east of State Road 407 and north of I-95 in Titusville, Florida.

At approximately 1:30 p.m., Parrish Medical Center personnel notified the Titusville Police Department that a pediatric patient had been brought to the emergency room with a gunshot wound.

Officers and detectives responded to both the hospital and the wooded area.

After a lengthy search, officers found several firearms on a trail hidden under a discarded tire in the wooded area.

Investigators say that four young juveniles were with Dustin Matthew Adkins shooting firearms in the woods.

At some point, Adkins left the children unsupervised and a nine-year-old girl was accidentally shot by a sibling while shooting at a target.

Titusville police later arrested and charged Adkins with Aggravated Child Neglect with Great Bodily Harm, Violation of Felony Probation, Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, and Possession of Ammunition by a Convicted Felon.

Adkins is currently on probation after previously being convicted of manslaughter involving the shooting death of a child in 2011.

In the 2011 case, Adkins told deputies that he was showing off a .380 that accidentally discharged when he pulled back the slider. The bullet struck a teenage girl who collapsed and died.

Adkins later explained to investigators in the 2011 case how he and his father had replaced the firing pin using a filed down nail and Gorilla Glue.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison plus 10 years of probation, according to Brevard County Clerk of Court records.

“It is outrageous that this adult provided firearms and ammunition to these young children”, said Deputy Chief Todd Hutchinson. “Especially given his past arrest and conviction”.

Adkins was booked into the Brevard County Jail under a “no bond” status.

The 9-year-old girl was critically injured and later transported by helicopter to a hospital in Orlando, Florida.