SETH LASSITER - 12 yo - Orange Park FL

Clay County child shot in his home


07/11/2011


JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- One child is in critical
condition after being shot in his home in Orange Park. The Clay County
Sheriff's Office says the shooting is an accident.


Officers say 12 year old Seth Lasater and another family member were handling a rifle
in a bedroom around 11 p.m. Sunday. That's when the gun discharged and
the victim was shot in the head. Lasaterr is now in critical condition
at Shands Jacksonville.

http://www.actionnewsjax.com/content/actionlocal/story/Clay-County-child-shot-in-his-home/xt2DWuWixkm6e7MKWdCW3Q.cspx?rss=1

Clay County shooting victim has died

By Catherine Awasthi

The Clay County youth who was hospitalized in critical condition after being shot in the head at his home on Sunday has died. Seth Lassiter spent two nights in critical condition at Shands Jacksonville after a rifle handled by another juvenile family member discharged, resulting in the victims head injury.

The Clay County Sheriff's Office says their preliminary investigation still points to this incident as being an accidental shooting.

Posted: Jul 12, 03:35 PM

http://www.wuftfm.org/news/index.php?id=1172

Clay community reacts after boy, 11, dies from accidental gunshot wound
He, brother had been looking at rifle they thought was unloaded.
Posted: July 13, 2011 - 12:00am | Updated: July 13, 2011 - 9:06am
Seth Lasater died Tuesday; he had goofed off a little for his Facebook page.

Lynn McCarthy remembers Seth Lasater very well.

That's because the 11-year-old Orange Park boy's home and her's shared backyards in the Grove Park neighborhood, and she always saw him playing back there with his dog, Gator.

So it was a shock to learn that Seth had died just after noon Tuesday, two days after he was accidentally shot in the head as he and brother Chase were looking at a gun they assumed was unloaded, according to the Clay County Sheriff's Office.

Calling the death "awful" and "a tragedy," McCarthy, vice president of the Grove Park/Oak Hollow homeowners group, said she hopes others learn "how ill-advised it is to keep loaded guns at home."

"No matter where you put them, a kid is going to be able to find them," McCarthy said. "... It makes me sick to my stomach. ..."

For neighborhood friends of the youth, the finality of his death was hard to fathom.

Standing on a porch out of the rain Tuesday, 12-year-old Alex Bailes recounted to friends the text messages he was sending them about the shooting Sunday night as police and rescue workers swarmed around the Lasater home down the street.

"You think I'm joking," he remembers telling two of his pals. It was no joke.

Alex and the others remember wearing gloves and boxing with Seth and his brother, playing football and a hide-and-seek game called manhunt.

Since the shooting, Alex's mother said she has been watching for news of Seth and reporting to Alex.

"He's been questioning me constantly if Seth is OK," Shanna Bailes said. "And I've been checking online. He was pretty upset when I told him."

Clay County Commissioner Doug Conkey mentioned the "tragic accident" in his invocation at Tuesday's County Commission meeting.

"Tragedy has befallen some of our beloved Clay County families," he said in the prayer. "Please wrap your loving arms around them. Our thoughts and prayers are with them in these tough times."

Seth was in the family home in the 400 block of Kevin Drive late Sunday when he and his brother were looking at a .22-caliber rifle. Their father was out of town working while his mother and grandfather were elsewhere in the home, according to the Sheriff's Office. Chase was handling the rifle, which both believed was unloaded, when he set it down and it went off, authorities said. Investigators wouldn't say who owned the rifle or how the boys got it as their investigation continues.

Seth was taken to Shands Jacksonville but died at 12:05 p.m. Tuesday, said Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Mary Justino. No charges have been filed.

"There really isn't a decision made ... until our case is closed on the actual shooting," Justino said.

http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-07-13/story/clay-community-reacts-after-boy-11-dies-accidental-gunshot-wound#ixzz1S0wrh6Vc

Always assume a firearm is loaded (and if there is a firearm in the house or anywhere else they might be), you darned well better tell your children to always consider it loaded) and then lock it up so they can't disobey you.

Bad Monkey on http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-07-13/story/clay-community-reacts-after-boy-11-dies-accidental-gunshot-wound#ixzz1S0wrh6Vc posted "Trigger Lock." A trigger lock is a simple, economical way to prevent the firearm from ever going off if used properly.

This sounds like a tragic accident that I pray would have been derailed before a young man lost his life. God Bless the grieving family and the children remaining that will have to learn to cope with their loss.

LASATER A Celebration of Life for Seth Hayden Lasater, 11, will be held 11AM Saturday...Jacksonville Memory Gardens Cemetery. Seth is survived by his parents, Forrest and Brooke Lasater; brother, Chase Michael Lasater...

http://www.legacy.com/Link.asp?I=LS000152545374


http://search.jacksonville.com/fast-elements.php?querystring=seth%20lasater&profile=jacksonville&type=standard&ref=recent

Video report.

11-Year-Old Orange Park Boy Seth Lasater Fatally Shot in App
07/12/11 5:00 P.M. Report

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/video/1049659327001/0/11-Year-Old-Orange-Park-Boy-Seth-Lasater-Fatally-Shot-in-App