Father charged in accidental shooting death of 6-year-old in Montgomery Co.

The father of a boy who accidentally and fatally shot himself in the face in Montgomery Village, Maryland, has been indicted on charges that include involuntary manslaughter and child neglect, prosecutors announced Thursday.

The Montgomery County grand jury’s indictment of Lascelle Lee, 32, stems from the accidental shooting that happened Feb. 17 in a home on Maple Leaf Drive.

According to prosecutors, Lee left a loaded and unsecured firearm in a place where he knew his son, a 6-year-old boy, would have access to it.

The child got a hold of the gun and shot himself in the face, which killed him instantly.

Lee was indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter, neglect of a minor, reckless endangerment and a minor’s access to a firearm. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Bradford McCullough ordered Lee released pending trial after a hearing Wednesday.

A court hearing is set for April 24 to select trial dates.

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Thomas Robertson

Thomas Robertson is an Associate Producer and Web Writer/Editor at WTOP. After graduating in 2019 from James Madison University, Thomas moved away from Virginia for the first time in his life to cover the local government beat for a small daily newspaper in Zanesville, Ohio.

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