On the afternoon of December 3, 2021, 3-year-old Thomas Juice Parker III died from a gunshot wound at the Oak Hill Terrace apartments in Port Royal, South Carolina. Family called him PJ and Juice; he was a Beaufort Elementary Head Start student who loved Oreo cookies, Slim Jims, hot dogs and oatmeal pies and reportedly wanted to be a church musician and play drums.

Port Royal officers responded at about 4:30 p.m. after the boy’s father, Thomas Parker Jr., reported that his son had shot himself. Officers found the father distraught on the floor with the child; emergency medical services pronounced the boy dead at the scene. A 1-year-old sister was also in the home. Investigators say the child found a firearm in a kitchen drawer, and the Port Royal Police Department indicated they do not expect to file charges against the parents. An autopsy was scheduled at the Medical University of South Carolina.

Who in the community might have seen or heard anything that afternoon or can add details about the home environment that could help clarify what happened?