A four-year-old boy, Devonte Carter Jr., was found dead inside a Hamilton Avenue residence in Jennings, Missouri, on June 30, 2021. St. Louis County Police were called for a report of a sick child; officers discovered Devonte unresponsive and he was pronounced dead at the scene. The department’s Bureau of Crimes Against Persons opened an investigation into a suspicious death.

Investigators determined the child had found his father’s loaded firearm and was fatally shot. Devonte Carter Sr., 25 at the time, was taken into custody and charged with endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful possession of a firearm. The case centers on an unsecured gun in a home with a young child and the devastating outcome that followed.

If anyone knew the family or has information about the circumstances that led to this shooting, contact the investigators handling the case.