The Genesee County Prosecutor’s office has filed the first criminal charges in Michigan under the state’s new firearm “safe storage” law against a Flint father whose 2-year-old daughter shot herself in the face with a loaded gun on Valentine’s Day.
Michael Tolbert, 44, faces multiple charges, including first-degree child abuse, felon in possession of a firearm, lying to a police officer in a violent crime investigation and violating the state’s firearm storage law. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton announced the charges during a press conference Tuesday in Flint.
The shooting happened one day after Michigan’s new safe storage law took effect.
“Now that we have this in place, it was our goal to be able to give prosecutors tools, because with this right comes an extraordinary responsibility,” said state Sen. Kristen McDonald Rivet. “I did not ever dream that within days of the law going into effect, we would need it, but here we are.”
Police found two guns in the bedroom of Tolbert’s home: a semiautomatic pistol and a revolver. Both were unsecured and loaded. Police said no gun locks or safes found in the bedroom. The revolver was the gun used in the shooting.
The little girl, Skye McBride, remains in “very critical” condition, according to a GoFundMe page started for her. It had raised more than $2,100 as of Tuesday afternoon.
“She is fighting so very hard for her life,” said LaDorothy Griggs, who identified herself as the girl’s aunt. “She is her mom’s only child and as you can imagine the family is struggling to process this as our world has been thrown into a whirlwind.”
Michigan’s legislature passed the new safe storage law in 2023 requiring adults to store firearms unloaded and locked in households with children present.
Penalties if a child gets ahold of a gun stored in violation of the law range from a misdemeanor to a felony, depending on how the child uses the gun:
A misdemeanor with a maximum 93-day jail sentence and up to $500 fine if a child accesses a gun and either possesses or displays it in a public place, or possesses or displays it in front of another person in a “careless, reckless or threatening” way.
A felony with a maximum five-year prison sentence and up to $5,000 fine if a child fires the gun and injures themselves or someone else.
A felony with up to 10 years in prison and up to $7,500 fine if a child seriously injures themselves or someone else.
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