Three adults are facing charges in connection with the shooting death of a 13-year-old boy in Mount Pleasant.
Court records show Joshua Hudec and Brooke Nelson are facing 11 counts including endangering the welfare of children, recklessly endangering another person and possession of a firearm by a minor.
Kristopher Lewis is facing firearms charges.
Police said James Gustafson and a 14-year-old friend were in a South Church Street house visiting a friend with three younger children, a babysitter and another teenager, when John somehow got a hold of a gun inside the home.
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Nelson was the live-in caretaker at the apartment where the two were visiting the night of March 20.
According to new court documents uncovered by Channel 11, Nelson wanted James to leave the house, but didn’t want to be the one to tell him.
Police said Nelson let John get a 9 millimeter to scare James into leaving. The clip was removed from the weapon and John told Nelson, “I’ll scare him with this.”
Nelson did not stop the 14-year-old boy from pointing the gun at James, which investigators said ultimately killed him.
The gun belonged to Hudec, which police say was not secured or locked up in the home. According to police, Hudec bought the gun illegally off of Lewis.
"My client [Hudec] is really devastated about the loss of a life, obviously he can't say anything, but he has really bad feelings about this," Hudec’s attorney, William Wiker told Channel 11’s Melanie Gillespie.
A criminal complaint said the boy told police that he and James were playing with the gun when the younger boy was shot in the face.
The boy is charged as an adult with criminal homicide and illegal possession of a firearm by a minor. He was taken to the county juvenile detention center because of his age.
All three adults were arraigned Monday. Hudec and Nelson are out on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
Editor's note: The suspect's name was removed from this story after the case was moved to juvenile court.
Cox Media Group
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