2 year old Louisiana boy shot and killed by 18 year old brother

A two year old Baton Rouge, Louisiana toddler was shot and killed by his 18 year old brother who was playing with his gun:

BR toddler dies after accidental shooting

BY JIM MUSTIAN

Advocate staff writer

January 24, 2013

72 COMMENTS

A Baton Rouge man who authorities said was playing with a gun was booked with negligent homicide Tuesday in the accidental shooting death of his 2-year-old brother.

Terrance J. Varise, 18, 5108 Jean St., was playing with a .357-caliber handgun at 6:30 p.m. Monday when his younger brother Travin Varise walked into the room and was struck in the chest, police and family members said.

The boy was rushed to a hospital where he died Tuesday morning, police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said.

Terrance Varise admitted to detectives “that he was carelessly playing with the gun when it accidentally discharged,” according to an affidavit of probable cause.

“He had it in his hand, cocking it back and forth,” McKneely said, adding Terrance Varise had been upset about the shooting.

“The entire family was upset,” McKneely said. “They know it’s an accident. It wasn’t intentional.”

Terrance Varise’s uncle Calvin Varise said he had just left the Jean Street home Monday evening when he learned of the shooting via text message.

Calvin Varise said the family had not kept a gun in the home, adding he believes Terrance Varise got the weapon from a friend.

He said the teen had armed himself due to “environmental pressure” from neighborhood friends, whom he described as “roustabouts.”

“They’re just floating and they have no anchor to hold them down,” Calvin Varise said. “We’ve lost two.”

Terrance Varise was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on counts of negligent homicide, cruelty to a juvenile and felon in possession of a firearm. He was being held Tuesday afternoon without bond, prison officials said.

Court records show Terrance Varise had been on probation for a 2011 simple burglary of a motor vehicle in Iberville Parish. He pleaded guilty to the charge in May and received two years probation and a suspended two-year prison term, the records show.

Terrance Varise indicated on his Facebook page that he had an affinity for “shooting games” and Grand Theft Auto IV, a popular video game. One photograph shows him with his eyes closed, holding a revolver at his side.

Where did this 18 year old "felon" get his gun? Easy access to guns by teens leads to senseless shootings.