AUNESTI LEE - 3 yo (2010) - Indianapolis IN

Poster's Note: An excellent story about a heartbreaking tragedy. Though it would seem to be accidental shooting the mother is being held responsible, as well she should. A kitchen table, in a house with children, is no place to leave a loaded weapon.
They may call it felony neglect... in my mind- and that's why this story is in this topic folder- it was murder by negligence.


By John Tuohy

Posted: July 31, 2010
IndyStar.com

In a household bounding with young children, 26-year-old Fiona Lee
took an afternoon shower and left a .45-caliber handgun behind.It was a fatal oversight.
Within minutes, a 4-year-old boy grabbed the gun from a low side
table in the kitchen, pointed it at the head of Lee's 3-year-old
daughter, Aunesti, and pulled the trigger.


Now Lee is in jail, her daughter is dead, and the 4-year-old boy and his father are missing."This
is a tragedy that easily could have been avoided," said Indianapolis
Metropolitan Police Department spokesman Lt. Jeff Duhamell. "And the sad
part is that the other children saw it. Now there are many lives that
have been turned upside-down."Lee
was charged late Thursday with three counts of neglect of a dependent,
felony possession of cocaine and misdemeanor possession of marijuana.
She was held Friday in the Marion County Jail on $200,000 bond.Police
said they want to talk to Curtis White Jr., 4, who fired the gun, but
he is in no legal jeopardy. "We're not going to arrest him; we aren't
going to put him in handcuffs," Duhamell said.Neighbors,
friends and strangers gathered Friday outside the two-story, wood frame
home in the 200 block of North Sheffield Avenue, many shaking their
heads in disbelief. A makeshift memorial of stuffed animals took shape
on the porch of the home where Aunesti was shot. A wayward yellow
balloon with the words "We love you Aunesti" floated down the street."I
knew the little girl. I cried," said John Dodd, who knew the victim and
her siblings. "They were playful. I'd give them some spending change."
According to police reports, four children were in the kitchen when Lee went
upstairs to the bathroom about 12:40 p.m. Thursday.With
Aunesti were her 6-year-old sister, 4-year-old brother and Curtis. He
is the son of Lee's live-in boyfriend, Curtis White, 24, who was not
home.Interviews with Aunesti's sister and brother and forensic evidence showed that
Curtis wasn't simply playing with the handgun when it accidentally discharged, police said.
"He aimed it," Duhamell said. "Kids that age know what guns are --
they are exposed to them all the time on TV and in games. He might have
thought it was a toy, but the mother said the kids played with toy guns
before."After the shooting, the frightened children ran to a neighbor's house as Lee
rushed down the stairs from the shower. Curtis White came home minutes
later and went with the family to Riley Hospital for Children, where the
girl was pronounced dead.
But before detectives could interview Curtis, his father left the hospital with him.Police
said the Indiana Department of Child Services would interview Curtis
Jr., if he is brought in, to determine whether the boy should remain
with his mother and father.Curtis Jr.'s mother, Latara Hampton, could not be reached for comment.Last
year, a similar case resulted in an eight-year prison sentence for an
Indianapolis father. James Michael Booher, then 27, pleaded guilty to
neglect for failing to secure his .40-caliber Glock; his 5-year-old son
pulled the gun off a bookshelf in May 2008 and used it to shoot Booher's
4-year-old daughter in the head, killing her.The
owner of the gun used in Thursday's shooting was undetermined, but
police said White isn't allowed to have one because he has a felony
conviction for cocaine possession in March 2006. White received a
180-day suspended sentence, according to court records.He
also has a misdemeanor conviction for carrying a handgun without a
license in October 2006, for which he served 88 days. Lee has one
conviction: a misdemeanor count of resisting arrest in October 2009.The
drug charges were filed against Lee because police found suspected
marijuana cigarette butts in the house, plus possible cocaine residue on
a digital scale.Jail
spokesman Julio Fernandez said Lee was despondent when she came in and
has been placed on suicide watch. "She is in a room with a camera, and
she will be watched 24 hours," he said."She was very upset when she came in,
and we figured that was the best thing to do, considering her mental condition."
Two of Lee's sisters said Friday that the community is getting the
wrong impression of her and that the family cannot afford her bond --
possibly keeping her from attending her daughter's funeral."We
want the community to know our sister cannot go to her daughter's
funeral unless we pay the bond," said Shafaun Lee, 22, who gathered with
other family members on the porch of the home on Sheffield Avenue. "She
can't even grieve comfortably.
"This was all an accident."Sarah Lee, 20, said her sister "is a good person.
Only God can judge."These kids are perfectly fine and in good hands," she added.
"They miss their mommy. They need their mommy."DCS
refused to comment on the case or any prior dealings with White or Lee,
except to say the agency was monitoring the situation.
The agency can provide guidance to the family about
seeking help for the children, spokeswoman Kim Koomler said."In
a tragic situation such as this, the Department of Child Services can
provide the family with information about how to contact a community
partner for therapeutic services," she said. "However, it would be up to
the parents . . . to help (them) cope with and begin the healing
process after such an event."The
Rev. Malachi Walker, pastor at Great Commission Church of God, was
trying to reach the family to organize a vigil for Aunesti."This
was just one of those things where parents need to be more conscious of
any dangers in the home," he said. "Unfortunately,
this was an accident that shouldn't have happened."

Cocaine & loaded guns lying around. Not the sort of people who should be raising kids.

Charges were filed Monday against an Indianapolis mother after her three-year-old girl was shot and killed last week.

Fiona Lee, 26, is now facing charges of child neglect and marijuana possession.

The case against Lee was continued until
Tuesday morning and she remains in jail. She had asked a judge to reduce
her $200,000 bond in hopes of bidding a final farewell to her daughter,
Aunesti, who was killed last Thursday.

"The state had requested a 72-hour
continuance in order to continue our investigation to determine what
charges, if any, will be filed," said Chief Trial Deputy Prosecutor
David Wyser.

Metro Police say the four-year-old boy who
pulled the trigger and killed the girl is the son of Fiona Lee's
boyfriend. They say the loaded handgun was left out on a counter top
where the kids could easily get to it.

In a court affidavit filed Monday morning,
investigators say Lee was upstairs getting dressed after shower when
"she heard a loud bang and immediately ran downstairs. She observed her
daughter, Aunesti, bleeding on the kitchen floor and (her boyfriend's
son) running out the back door."

The mother of three called 911 and began CPR
on the girl before carrying the toddler to the porch. Investigators say
Lee's six-year-old daughter witnessed it all and told detectives she saw
the four-year-old boy "point a handgun at Aunesti and shoot her in the
head."

After the shooting, the boy and his father went missing, but later showed up for questioning.

"There were several witnesses interviewed, including the child, who actually pulled the trigger," Wyser said.

Investigators say Lee admitted to walking
past the gun on a small table in the kitchen. They say she told them
"the handgun is usually kept on a shelf in her upstairs bedroom closet
and she wasn't sure why it had been left in the kitchen."

A search of the residence turned up a second gun and, in the very same closet, suspected cocaine and marijuana.

"[Lee] was aware of the suspected marijuana
in her living room and said that marijuana is smoked inside the
residence," investigators wrote in the affidavit.

Fiona Lee, 26
Fiona Lee posts bail, can attend daughter's funeral
Daughter was shot and killed by playmate
Updated: Wednesday, 04 Aug 2010, 4:38 PM EDT
Published : Wednesday, 04 Aug 2010, 4:38 PM EDT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - An Indianapolis woman jailed after her 3-year-old daughter was fatally shot by a playmate will be able to attend her daughter's funeral on Friday.

Fiona Lee was released Wednesday from the Marion County Jail, where she was being held on charges of felony neglect and cocaine and marijuana possession.

Lee's daughter, Aunesti Lee Allen, died last Thursday after being shot in the head by her boyfriend's 4-year-old son. Lee told police the .45-caliber handgun had been left on a table in reach of the children.

Magistrate Amy Barbar had reduced Lee's $200,000 bond to $20,000 on Monday. Lee had to post $2,000 to be released.

Woman Sentenced In 3-Year-Old Daughter's Death
20 Years Of 30-Year Sentence Suspended

9:04 AM, Jul 25, 2012

A woman who was found guilty last month of child neglect received a 30-year sentence Wednesday, with 20 years suspended.
Fiona Lee, the mother of a 3-year-old girl who was fatally shot by her boyfriend's 4-year-old son in 2010, was found guilty of child neglect last month.

Investigators said the 4-year-old picked up a gun from a kitchen table and shot Aunesti Lee Allen in the head.

Four children were unattended in the downstairs of a home when the shooting happened.

Police said at the time of Lee's arrest that the children had been known to play with toy guns and that the 4-year-old probably thought the gun was a toy.

In court Wednesday, Lee said it was the worst feeling in her life. Her two other children were removed from the home as she awaited trial.

Lee was so upset with the sentence that family members had to physically support her as she left the courtroom, RTV6's Derrik Thomas reported.

Prosecutors supported the punishment.

"This is a crime that not only affected this family, it also affected this community. It's important that the community be aware that this is not OK," Marion County Deputy Prosecutor Katie Jackson. "If you are a gun owner or you do keep a gun in your home, you keep them safe, away from your children because your children have to be your No. 1 priority."

Lee told the judge, "I got to get myself together. For my kids, I've got to figure it out."

The judge said she hoped the sentence was a wakeup call. Lee must serve her term in prison until space is available at Craine House, a residential program for nonviolent female offenders.

Lee will also be on probation for five years. Her other children are currently in the custody of their grandmother.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/woman-sentenced-in-3-year-old-daughter-s-death