Two-year-old Jacarion Antonio Gladden died from a single gunshot wound to the chest inside his Lancaster, South Carolina home in the summer of 2017. His mother, Toni Lashay Gladden, 26, and her live-in boyfriend, 18-year-old Shazeem Tyrell Hayes, rushed him toward the hospital after the shooting but crashed en route; Jacarion was pronounced dead at Springs Memorial Hospital. An autopsy reportedly found cocaine in the child’s system.

Hayes, a convicted felon on probation who was legally barred from possessing firearms, told police he had left a loaded 9mm handgun in the living room, then walked away; a short time later a gunshot was heard and Jacarion was found on the couch with the fatal wound. Police described the death as the result of extreme criminal negligence. Gladden was reported to have known Hayes often kept the unsecured, loaded weapon around her children. Both adults were charged in connection with the death and later sentenced for their roles.

If anyone knew Jacarion or was in that Lancaster neighborhood in 2017, can you share information that might clarify what happened that night?