A five-year-old boy, Hakiem Scott, died from a gunshot wound in his Near Eastside Indianapolis home on May 12, 2023. The shooting happened in the 1300 block of North Kealing Avenue after a loaded nine-millimeter handgun was placed in the side of the couch where the children were sitting; moments later a single shot was heard. Hakiem was taken to a hospital and later died.

Police searched the home and recovered the handgun and cocaine. Hakiem’s father, 25-year-old Jabar Scott, was arrested and charged with neglect of a dependent resulting in death and possession of cocaine. Court documents say Jabar admitted leaving the firearm on the couch while he stepped away; the boy’s mother, Mariah Steuer, told detectives she was in the kitchen on the phone when she heard the shot and later tested positive for cocaine. Reports say investigators believe the child found the gun and accidentally shot himself.

Did anyone in the Near Eastside neighborhood see or hear anything that evening that could help clarify what happened?