On August 7, 2023, seven-year-old Darnell Latrell Macon was fatally shot inside a Ford F-150 in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Larry Lane in Berkeley, a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Police say Darnell had been left inside the truck while his grandfather loaded recording equipment. During the roughly six minutes he was alone, the boy found a firearm stored between the driver’s seat and center console; the weapon discharged and Darnell suffered a gunshot wound to the head. Emergency responders pronounced him dead at the scene.

St. Louis County investigators determined the gun had been left unsecured within reach of the child. Darnell’s grandfather, 45-year-old Walter Macon, was taken into custody and charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in death and armed criminal action. He was held at the St. Louis County Justice Center and a judge set bond at $100,000 cash-only.

Was anyone in the complex seen near the truck that morning, or do readers have information about where the firearm came from?