Michigan man pleads guilty in accidental shooting that left 2-year-old boy dead

(CBS) – A man from Michigan charged in the accidental shooting that killed a 2-year-old boy has pleaded guilty, the US Attorney’s Office said.

According to federal prosecutors, 22-year-old Avis Damone Coward of Lansing admitted to having a 9mm pistol and a .45-caliber pistol in the child’s mother’s car in October 2023 when one of the weapons accidentally fired, fatally wounding the child.

Officials said Coward got out at a gas station in Lansing, leaving the child and his mother in the car. According to surveillance video, a minute later, a bullet hole appeared in the window and the boy’s mother, Emma Huver, 26, got out of the car with her child in her arms. As she got out, a gun fell out.

As the child was being taken to the gas station, Coward took the gun and smashed the passenger window, which had a bullet hole from the shooting, before driving away. The child succumbed to his injuries.

Officials said Coward called two people to pick up and hide the weapons. One of those people, Gina Schieberl, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Coward to tamper with evidenceSchieberl admitted to moving the car to prevent police from finding it. The vehicle was later found damaged after being set on fire.

Huver pleaded guilty to illegal possession of weapons.

The verdict for Huver and Schieberl is scheduled for September 16 and October 21 respectively.

“The senseless death of this two-year-old child was not inevitable,” U.S. Attorney Mark Totten said in a statement. “This incident is just one example of the cruel reality we must face: gun violence is now the leading cause of death for our youngest Americans, ages 0-19. We cannot bring this innocent child back, but these guilty pleas are an important step toward achieving some measure of justice and sending a message that careless gun owners will be held accountable.”