On Sunday afternoon, May 24, 2020, two-year-old Christian Zawoiski died of a single, self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head inside his family home on Laurel Springs Road in East Penn Township, near Lehighton, Pennsylvania. Emergency responders found the child critically injured around 4 p.m.; he was taken to St. Luke’s Lehighton Campus and pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Pennsylvania State Police investigators determined the toddler gained access to a loaded 9mm Glock that had been left unsecured in a living-room basket that also contained a children’s book and toys. Both parents, Andrew Zawoiski, 28, and Christina McFarland, 24, were at the home and acknowledged knowing where the loaded firearm was and not securing it. Police also reported other firearms and ammunition in the residence, a loaded .22-caliber pistol in an unsecured drawer, an AR-15 with 30 rounds leaning against furniture, plus marijuana and pills. Both parents admitted using Suboxone that morning; McFarland did not have a prescription, and officers recorded signs of impairment.

Andrew Zawoiski and Christina McFarland were arrested and charged with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person, and drug-related offenses. Does anyone in the Lehighton area have information about the household or the events that afternoon?