Family of Slain Man Questions Toddler's Trigger Finger
A gunshot killed an aspiring Georgia rapper; cops say a child may be to blame.
Dec. 6, 2007 — -- A toddler playing inside a Georgia recording studio picked up a handgun lying on a table and shot a 22-year-old aspiring rap artist in the forehead, killing him.
That's the scenario police in Brunswick, Ga., believe played out Tuesday night, according to friends and family members of Curtis Gabriel Collins, who spoke to ABC News.
While the Brunswick Police Department continued to investigate the shooting, the family expressed significant doubts as to whether a child not yet 3 years old could have pulled the trigger.
"I do not believe that a 2-year-old boy can pick up a gun and shoot him in the head," Barbara Rhett, Collins' grandmother, told ABC News.
Brunswick Police Chief Edna Johnson told ABC News' Memphis affiliate WPTY that she considered the incident a lesson in gun safety. "Obviously, someone wasn't watching and the child was able to play with the gun and the gun discharged," Johnson said. She did not say what kind of weapon killed Collins or who owned it, although she did say the gun did not belong to Collins.
Family members told ABC News the gun used was a 22-caliber handgun.
Police have said little else about what happened inside Gutter Entertainment Studio. The Brunswick News, citing police sources, said that Collins, also known as "C-real," was sitting on a sofa when he was shot.
Police have not said how many adults were at the studio at the time of the shooting, and have not identified the child who may have pulled the trigger.
Collins survived a shooting in October in which he was hit twice in the chest, once in the stomach and once in the leg. No one has been arrested in connection with that shooting; family members said they didn't know whether police believe the two shootings are related.
The lack of information has been particularly frustrating to Collins' family and friends.
"They're not saying anything," Rhett said. "I just think it's wrong, and something needs to be done about it. I think the person who was responsible for that gun needs to say something about it."
Jimmy Durden, the Glynn County coroner, told ABC News that Collins died from a single gunshot would to the forehead. Brunswick police now have to provide the medical examiner with additional information so the shooting can be ruled either an accidental death or an intentional homicide.
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