On October 27, 2016, 3-year-old Jermone L. Green was shot and killed inside a townhouse in the 1800 block of Topping Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri. Emergency responders attempted resuscitation but the child died from a single gunshot wound. The family had moved into the home about a month earlier.

Kansas City police investigators concluded the shooting was accidental and involved Jermone’s 5-year-old brother. Detectives say the older child climbed onto a footstool to reach an upper kitchen cabinet while reportedly looking for bread, found a loaded handgun and unintentionally discharged it. Several adults were present in the home but the sequence happened quickly and out of their line of sight.

In December 2016 the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office announced no criminal charges would be filed against the adults, finding insufficient evidence to prove criminal recklessness or negligence because the firearm had been stored in a high cabinet generally considered out of reach. Family members publicly expressed grief and concern about firearms in the home. Does anyone have information about safety changes or community responses that followed this tragedy?