Kat Stafford

Detroit Free Press

Several charges have been filed in two separate shooting cases — one fatal and one non-fatal — of two Detroit children who shot themselves after finding unsecured guns in their homes.

"Everybody in this universe knows that Detroit has an issue," said Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy at a Wednesday news conference. "Detroit and Wayne County have huge issues with children dying from firearm use. And no matter how much we sugarcoat it or say it’s not so or try to cover it up with stats about crime going down, it still remains an issue that we have to address."

Frederick Davis, 65, and Patricia McNeal, 65, have been charged in connection with the May 11 fatal shooting death of their granddaughter, 5-year-old Mariah Davis. Davis and McNeal have been charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter, three counts of second-degree child abuse and one count each of felony firearm. Davis has also been charged with felon in possession of a firearm.

The grandparents were babysitting Mariah and her brother, along with a neighbor's child, at their home in the 19700 block of Oakfield when Mariah went into her grandparents' bedroom around midnight and retrieved a handgun from under a pillow.

Detroit Police said two other children, a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old, also were upstairs but unharmed. The grandmother was downstairs cooking at the time of the shooting.

Mariah then took the gun into another room and shot herself in the neck, according to the prosecutor's office. Davis went into the room and found her on the bed, retrieved the gun and called 911. Both grandparents will be arraigned at 10:30 a.m.Thursday.

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Also announced were charges against Joseph Williams, 80, and Andrea Drewery, 30, the great-grandfather and mother of a 4-year-old boy who shot himself in the hand on Nov. 11, 2015. Each have been charged with second-degree child abuse and felony firearm. They're expected to be arraigned at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.

According to the prosecutor's office, Drewery's 4-year-old son found a handgun that belonged to his great-grandfather and shot himself with it in the 1400 block of Terry Street. Worthy said the mother and great-grandfather allegedly knew the unsecured handgun was in the home and accessible to the boy and his younger brother.

In Wayne County alone, in the last 17 months, Worthy said eight children have killed or injured themselves or others with unsecured firearms. Since 2005, 14 cases involving the shooting deaths or injuries of children who found unsecured guns have been prosecuted by the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office, according to data released today.

"This is a public health issue and not just a crime issue," Worthy said. "As I’ve said often.l these guns are legally owned. They’re often unsecured and most of the time, children know where they are even if parents think that they don’t. And all of this is totally, completely and absolutely preventable."

The announcement of charges follows a recent string of fatal shootings within the past two months that involved children. The first was on Easter, March 27, when 3-year-old Aniaya Montgomery was shot and killed on the city’s west side.

Then on April 17, 6-month old Miracle Murray was killed as shots were fired at a house on Winthrop near Clarita, also on Detroit's west side. Police said at the time they believed Miracle's slaying was connected to Aniaya's killing.

And on April 24, a 4-year-old boy was shot and injured while riding a bicycle, and his father was shot and killed in the same shooting.

On May 8, a 9-year-old boy found a handgun in a neighbor’s yard and accidentally shot himself on the city's west side while showing the gun to his mother. The boy was taken to a hospital. The boy was one of several injured in a bloody Mother's Day weekend in Detroit that left seven people dead and 14 others hurt in 17 shootings across the city.

Two weeks ago, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy condemned the string of child shootings in a statement to the Free Press, calling them an "epidemic" that must be addressed.

"How many more deaths do we need before strong, swift action is taken?" Worthy said, at the time.

• Rochelle Riley: Detroit doesn't need protests, it needs to protect its children

Wednesday, Worthy called the shootings "troubling" and urged parents and caretakers to become more responsible. Worthy said she plans to call for stricter legislation aimed at gun owners who leave their firearms around a child who subsequently injures or kills themselves or others. Worthy said she's also planning to meet with the heads of hospitals across Wayne County to discuss how pediatricians can better educate parents about gun ownership.

"Make sure they’re (guns) unloaded and secured and please don’t think that your child doesn’t know you have a gun and number two, doesn’t know where it is," Worthy said. "It’s just about being responsible. ...There are some people who would say, 'Why are you charging someone who's 80 years old? Why are you charging grandparents who are 65 years old?' The victims in these cases, those who did not have the good luck to survive, they won’t reach their 5th birthday, their 10th birthday, let alone their 80th birthday. We just have to be responsible when we decide to adopt, bear or look after children. We have to know what’s in our homes."

Contact Katrease Stafford: kstafford@freepress.com or 313-223-4759.