Police arrest, charge mother of boy accidentally killed with gun

WEST MIFFLIN, Pa. — 11:56 P.M. UPDATE: Kayleigh Potter was arrested in West Mifflin on Friday night. She is being held at the Allegheny County Jail. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 28.

A West Mifflin mother is wanted by police after her 6-year-old son was killed with her gun.

The charges stem from the incident last month, when police say her 10-year-old son found her loaded gun and killed his 6-year-old brother.

The criminal complaint shows detectives interviewed neighbors, past boyfriends and relatives, painting a dark picture of the life the two boys lived: neglected, often left home alone and with harsh discipline for one of them.

Police are now asking for help finding Kayleigh Potter, 29.

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According to police paperwork, the 10-year-old originally said the 6-year-old shot himself, but later admitted, “He retrieved the weapon from his mother's purse" and “he was playing with his brother like cops and robbers and pulled the trigger."

Police say their mother was not home at the time and detectives interviewed numerous people who said, “Kayleigh would leave the boys every day when she went to work or to the bar.”

A neighbor said the boys, “would run the neighborhood, often stopping at various houses to eat and were on their own a lot."

Other witnesses told police, “Kayleigh would discipline (the 10-year-old) differently than the 6-year-old because he was her favorite."

Also in the complaint, "(The 10-year-old) was prescribed Adderall, but Kayleigh did not give it to (him), she herself would take it. She would be verbally abusive ... beat (him) more than usual. She smoked marijuana all day, every day."

Police are still looking for Potter and say she has ties to Mount Oliver and the South Hills.

She's charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child, falsifying firearm-purchase forms and drugs charges.

Cox Media Group