PHOENIX — A 2-year-old boy named Kayden Lewis has died after an accidental shooting in Phoenix Wednesday afternoon.
The incident happened at an apartment complex near 19th Avenue and Thunderbird Road, according to Phoenix police.
Officers have since arrested and booked the child's father, Joshua Lewis, for child abuse after detectives learned that Joshua kept the loaded gun used in the incident in a place reachable by Kayden. Lewis is now facing manslaughter charges.
Joshua had his initial appearance in Maricopa County court on Thursday for the felony child abuse charge. The commissioner gave Joshua a $250,000 secured appearance bond. At last check, Joshua is still in Maricopa County jail.
Court documents say Joshua told investigators he knew his handgun was in reach of both Kayden and his other 3-year-old child before the shooting happened.
'Preventable and tragic'
Mark Healy, who owns Healy Arms in Tempe, and was previously a Tempe police officer, said what happened Wednesday afternoon could have been prevented.
"Preventable and tragic," Healy said.
Healy said moving the handgun out of reach of the children would have been the most basic step.
"There's a lot of ways to prevent what happened in Phoenix, a lot of ways," Healy said. "That's part of smart gun ownership and responsible gun ownership."
Healy said there are items across the price range spectrum. Healy said a cable lock is included with every firearm sold at his store for free and may cost a few dollars at other places.
"This would of course, with a toddler, render a gun inoperable," Healy said.
Healy said while that option can add time if needing to use the gun for home protection, gun safety boxes can be as cheap as $30 and go up to $100 or more that allow the firearm to be stored safely, but accessed quickly if needed.
"It's a very inexpensive way to make sure you don't end up with what happened in Phoenix," Healy said.
'Child Access Protection' laws
Allison Anderman, senior counsel with Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence said about 30 states in the United States have what she calls, "Child Access Prevention" laws.
Arizona is not one of those states.
"The strongest ones, impose liability on people who leave a firearm even accessible to a minor," Anderman said. "And the weakest, only impose liability if a minor gets a hold of it and uses it to injure or kill another person."
Anderman said there is evidence the laws do make a difference in preventing the harms that leaving firearms unattended can bring.
"The importance of the laws is that people understand that the behavior is dangerous and puts a child at risk," Anderman said.
Joshua was charged with a felony child abuse charge and manslaughter related to his son's death from the accidental shooting.
Healy noted it did not change what happened Wednesday, neither, he said, would a new law.
"Would another law have moved that gun somewhere else? Probably not," Healy said.
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