The New Orleans Police Department (NOPD) arrested a 47-year-old woman on a negligent homicide charge after a 3-year-old fatally shot himself with her firearm Saturday night, police say.
Rudy Ratliff was playing Uno with his family when he found adopted grandmother Tatisha Refuge’s allegedly unsecured, loaded firearm and accidentally discharged it, his mother, Leshawn Ratliff, told Fox 8 News.
Woman arrested after 3-year-old’s accidental shooting https://t.co/DHwrAZCXPE
— WAFB (@WAFB) December 2, 2024
“I came here Saturday to pick up my older son. He spent his Thanksgiving break down here and I came down on Saturday to pick him up so that we can go home on Sunday and that they can go back to school on Monday,” Leshawn told the outlet. (RELATED: Sundance Head Breaks His Silence After Accidentally Shooting Himself)
“[Refuge is] like a grandparent to my sons. She’s like another mom to me. She was in my life for 17 years. She kind of raised me. Once I had kids, she looked at my kids as her grandkids,” she said.
“I started seeing blood come out of his chest. That’s when I knew he was shot,” Leshawn continued. “So, I got on the phone with 911. But in the midst of all that, we grabbed my baby and got up out of there and I drove. I drove as fast as I could to University (Medical Center). And he was still breathing when he got there. About 15 or 20 minutes later they came out and told me he didn’t make it.”
“He was a beautiful soul. I’ll never forget my baby. I never thought I would be living life without him,” she added. “[T]he gun fell off his grandparent … and shot my son.”
Refuge turned herself in to police Monday after being identified as the gun owner. If convicted, she faces a minimum prison sentence of two years and a maximum of ten years without the possibility of parole, according to Louisiana state law.
NOPD Superintendent Anne Kirkpatrick cited the incident in a press conference Monday on violence over the holiday weekend.
“These [Thanksgiving and other holidays] are times of celebration, but I also have shared with you that the holiday season for us in law enforcement is also a season in which we have tragic events. Emotions are typically very high during a holiday season, which can be a breeding ground for violence. This weekend we did indeed have an outbreak of some unfortunate and senseless events … We even had a 3-year-old who got a hold of a gun and shot himself accidentally it appears but died,” she said.
Another police spokesperson added that the 3-year-old sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.
“We can confirm there were three adults: the victim’s mother, her boyfriend and Ms. Refuge — along with two juveniles: the victim and his 10-year-old brother — inside the home prior to the [shooting] incident,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that they have reason to believe that “Ms. Refuge tampered with the crime scene after immediately fleeing the location of the shooting.”
This article was originally published at dailycaller.com
