Michael Ben Mendoza was a 4-year-old boy from Gastonia, North Carolina, who died on December 13, 2022, after a firearm discharged inside a trailer home in eastern Gaston County. Prosecutors say the gun belonged to a family friend, Keith Deshawn Sturghill, and had been left out in the open. Michael and his 5-year-old sister found the weapon; the sister picked it up and the gun accidentally fired, striking Michael in the head and killing him.

Michael’s parents, Savannah Leigh Brehm and Hector Manuel Mendoza-Saucedo, both 22, and Sturghill were charged with involuntary manslaughter, child abuse, and failure to store a firearm to protect a minor. The three later pleaded guilty and received supervised probation: three years for Brehm and Mendoza-Saucedo, and two years for Sturghill. The district attorney described the deaths as the result of gross negligence without criminal intent and cited remorse and concern for the surviving child in explaining the plea resolution.

The case drew attention to safe storage of firearms; local police noted they provide free gun locks and urged guns be secured. Does anyone have information about the household or the events that afternoon that could help clarify what happened?