Seven-month-old Nathaniel Hitt was shot and killed in Rome, New York, on November 28, 2015. The infant was in a walker in the living room of his mother’s apartment when the mother’s boyfriend, Henry Bartle, was cleaning a Mossberg 500 12-gauge pump shotgun and the weapon discharged. The shot struck Nathaniel in the upper body and he was pronounced dead after emergency responders arrived around 4 p.m.

Investigators reported that Bartle had been hunting the previous day, that he cleaned the loaded firearm inside the residence, and that he had been smoking marijuana before and after the shooting; he also attempted to conceal marijuana before officers arrived. Bartle was taken into custody and charged with criminally negligent homicide, arraigned in Rome City Court, and held on $50,000 cash bail or bond. The matter was expected to be presented to a grand jury for further consideration.

Did anyone in the Rome area see or hear anything at the apartment around 4 p.m. on November 28, 2015, that could shed light on this case?