4-year old Virginia boy finds unsecured gun in truck and kills himself

Kyrell Kyyon McNeill, age 4

A 4-year old boy, Kyrell Kyyon McNeill, went into an unoccupied truck, in Woodbridge, Virginia, and found a loaded, unsecured gun.  He unintentionally discharged the weapon, hitting himself in the head.  He died at the scene.


From an article and news footage:

Next-door neighbor Javiar Garcia used to give quarters to the boy, and enjoyed watching the child push his scooter up and down the sidewalk that runs in front of their homes. 

He had just parked his own car after running an errand when he heard the mother's screams and rushed to help. 

"She said 'My baby's dead. My baby's dead,'" he said.

"I saw the baby in the back seat with (his body) down, and they had blood around and a little hole in his head too, and I said 'Oh my God, we have to call 9-11,"" he said. 

The mother had already phoned to ask for help, he told 9News Now. 

Neighbors expressed sadness and concern for the family, but one had strong feelings about what should happen next. 

"My opinion is that the owner should be charged.

"Whether it's an illegal, weapon or a legal weapon, he should have had his vehicle locked," said neighbor Dave Brain.

From another article:

[Grandmother] Lylla Scales says she doesn't blame anyone for the accident that claimed the life of her grandson, Kyrell McNeill, but she does think that there are too many guns available. 

"I hate guns. I realize that in certain jobs you have to have them or they're required of you, but there are too many," Scales says.....Scales says she was told Kyrell got into the locked pickup truck and got a hold of the gun by climbing through the sliding back window. 

Scales says she last saw her grandson a little more than a week ago. She says he loved to come over and play, especially basketball. He was really excited about starting school in the fall. 

She says she can't bring herself to accept the fact that he's gone, and the fact that he was taken away so suddenly and so tragically. 

"I hate it. I hate to think that he left like that, so young," says Scales.

Every gun in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.