A family visit turned tragic for Leshawn Ratliff from Cypress, Texas, when her three-year-old son, Rudy, was accidentally shot with a loaded firearm at a friend’s home in New Orleans.
New Orleans Police believed that while Ratliff was playing Uno in another room, Rudy found an unsecured gun belonging to their host, Tatisha Refuge, and fired it, leading to his death.
The incident, confirmed by New Orleans Police, has left the community in shock, as reported by Daily Mail.
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However, Ratliff, believes that her son did not “accidentally discharge the weapon,” but rather alleged that Refuge had the gun on her person and discharged it herself.
“She told my mother that the gun fell off her hip and shot my son,” Ratliff told KHOU11.
On Saturday evening, Ratliff, her boyfriend, and her older son were playing Uno in a neighboring room in the 2200 block Willow Street home. Ratliff later recounted the harrowing moment when the gun allegedly fell from their host Refuge’s waistband.
“I started seeing blood come out of his chest. That’s when I knew he was shot,’ she said through tears to Fox8 News.
Ratliff acted swiftly, rushing her three-year-old son, Rudy, to the hospital after the accidental shooting.
The boy however succumbed later to his injuries.
“I got on the phone with 911. But in the midst of all that, we grabbed my baby and got up out of there and I drove. I drove as fast as I could to University [Medical Center]. And he was still breathing when he got there. About 15 or 20 minutes later they came out and told me he didn’t make it,” she said.
Ratliff had visited Refuge, who she considered an adopted grandmother to her children, after she had left her older son there.
“She’s like a grandparent to my sons. She’s like another mom to me. She was in my life for 17 years. She kind of raised me. Once I had kids, she looked at my kids as her grandkids,” she explained.
Following the accidental shooting of Ratliff’s three-year-old son, Refuge turned herself in on Monday as the gun’s owner.
Despite the incident, Ratliff believes it was an honest mistake.
“It was an accidental shooting. The gun fell off his grandparent. It wasn’t in a safe. It wasn’t in a handgun position. It was just in the pocket I guess and fell out and shot my son,” Ratliff said.
“I know it was a mistake. I believe in my heart it was a mistake. I just don’t understand. I just don’t understand.”
The New Orleans Police Department’s Child Abuse detectives are actively investigating the accidental shooting of Rudy.
Refuge, if charged and convicted, could face 2 to 10 years in prison without parole due to the victim’s age.
Meanwhile, grieving mother Ratliff has organized a GoFundMe campaign to fund her son’s proper burial.
