A Charleston man was sentenced Tuesday to spend at least a year in jail Tuesday for child neglect after his 5-year-old son shot his 4-year-old daughter last year.
John Seymour, 25, of Beech Avenue, pleaded guilty earlier this year to child neglect resulting in injury.
In April 2014, Seymour left a loaded gun within reach of his young children at a mobile home off Hurley Drive in Cross Lanes. His son picked up the gun and shot his sister in the arm.
The girl and her mother, Tabitha Bowen, 24, were dropped off at Thomas Memorial Hospital. Seymour fled in a pickup truck with the boy.
Police later found Seymour and his son at a home on Dalewood Drive in Cross Lanes.
The shooting took place while the parents were sleeping.
Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky handed down a one to three year prison sentence to Seymour, according to a news release from Kanawha Prosecuting Attorney Charles Miller's office. Stucky also ordered he be supervised for five years after his release.
Bowen was originally charged with child neglect, but the charge was dropped, because prosecutors said there was no evidence that showed she knew Seymour had left the gun within reach of the children.
Reach Kate White at kate.white@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1723 or follow @KateLWhite on Twitter.