Two-year-old kills himself with unsecured gun, mother and her fiancée arrested

Heartbreaking story coming out of South Florida’s Treasure Coast: On February 18th at about 7:00 p.m.  officers with the Port St. Luci Police Department (PSLPD) responded to a residence in the 5700 block of NW Zenith Drive in reference to a child with a gunshot wound to the head.

Upon their arrival, officers found the two-year-old baby boy on the bed in the master bedroom with a gunshot wound to his head. The child was transported to HCA Florida Lawnwood Hospital where he was later pronounced deceased from that fatal and accidentally self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police say that there was a total of five adults and two children in the home at the time of the shooting. The 24-year-old mother, Natalie Cruz, and the two-year-old child were in the master bedroom. The mother’s 25-year-old fiancée, Quintenn Wesley, his sister, his father and his grandmother were in other areas of the home along with an infant child.

The mother was on the bed with the child when the mother heard a gunshot. She looked and saw the two-year-old child with a gunshot wound to the head and a handgun next to him.

It was discovered that the fiancée, Quintenn Wesley, was the owner of the 9 mm handgun.  The police investigation showed that he kept a total of two handguns – unsecured – in the master bedroom.

A search warrant was secured for the residence and both handguns were seized as evidence along with a spent shell casing and the projectile.

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From February 18 through February 21, detectives with the Major Crimes Unit continued their investigation into this unfortunate tragedy. During the investigation, it was learned that the victim’s mother, Natalie Cruz, was a convicted felon in Florida.

On February 21, warrants were issued for the arrests of both Cruz and Wesley. At about 2:45 p.m., both Cruz and Wesley were taken into custody by the United States Marshals Fugitive Task Force in the parking lot of the Dollar General located at 8,425 S US Hwy 1 in Port St. Lucie.

“They are the responsible caregivers for this juvenile child and they are responsible for providing for its care and safe environment, and they failed to do that by leaving two loaded firearms in the child’s proximity,” said Port St. Lucie Police Chief Leo Niemczyk. ~ WPTV

Natalie Cruz was charged with:

• one count of Possession of a Firearm or Ammo by a Convicted Felon, a second-degree felony, and,
• one count of Culpable Negligence – Allowing a Minor Access to a Firearm Resulting in Injury or Death, a third-degree felony.

“You are responsible for that firearm at all times and if you are unable to care for that firearm during a given time, it needs to be secured, locked in a safe place where nobody, especially a child, can get their hands on it,” said Niemczyk.

Quintenn Wesley was charged with:

• one count of Culpable Negligence – Allowing a Minor Access to a Firearm Resulting in Injury or Death, a third-degree felony.

Both Cruz and Wesley were taken to the St. Lucie County Jail. Cruz’s bond was set at $55,000 and Wesley’s bond at $15,000.

For more on this heartbreaking story, see the video below.

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(Source: Port St. Luci Police Department)

Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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