ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. (WKRG) — A Pensacola man was arrested Sunday after deputies say alleged negligence led to the death of a 1-year-old girl.
Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons says Roderick Randall, 45, left a gun unsecured around his 8-year-old son, who picked it up and played with it before shooting and killing a 1-year-old girl and injuring a 2-year-old girl.
Simmons said at a Monday morning press conference the accidental shooting happened at Lion’s Motel off Dr. Martin Luther King Drive in Pensacola early Sunday morning. The children were left alone with Randall’s girlfriend, who was asleep at the time of the shooting.
Simmons said one shot was fired. It went through the 1-year-old, killing her, and then hit the 2-year-old, according to Simmons. Another 2-year-old in the room was not injured.
Simmons says Randall, a 14-time convicted felon, left the firearm in “apparently what he thought was a safe holster,” but it was not effective.
Randall reportedly came back to the motel, left after grabbing the weapon and drugs, and then eventually returned.
Randall is charged with culpable negligence, tampering with evidence, possession of firearm by felon and failure to safely store a firearm.
“We need these parents to step up and do a better job because the decisions that they make can cost the lives of our most precious resources — that’s our children,” Simmons said.
Randall was released from the Escambia County jail Sunday evening on a $41,000 bond.