Three-year-old Tharell Edward was shot in the head by a neighbor in Brooklyn early Saturday morning, according to New York Daily News.
Edward was shot around 3:30 a.m. in his home while he was with his mother's roommate and a neighbor, Akeem Bernard.
Late Saturday, Bernard was charged with felony assault, criminal possession of a weapon, endangering the welfare of a child, and tampering with evidence.
"I did not shoot anybody," Bernard said as he was being escorted to a police van, on it's way for booking, according to the Daily News.
Nichelle Edward, Tharell's 43-year-old mother, was not home at the time of the incident.
"My mother had just left and the girl got up to use the bathroom," said Tharell's sister, Thanielle Edward. "She heard a gunshot and the guy was trying to act like he didn't know what happened."
According to media reports, Nichelle Edward's roommate and Bernard were running around the parking lot with the child after he was shot in a panic. Neighbors were upset to hear the news about Edward, who suffered injuries from a pitbull attack just a few months ago.
"She's very irresponsible, very neglectful," neighbor Tony Reid of Nichelle Edward said. "She had a dog that bit the baby and when the baby came back from the hospital the child fell down the staircase that week. Twice that week."
Other neighbors said the boy was often left home alone while his mother stayed with her boyfriend. Before he was shot, Tharell was still recovering from the pitbull incident.
"The dog bit him in the side," Jay Nichols said. "He had to wear a colostomy bag...He's 3-years-old. He shouldn't have to live in these kind of conditions."
Bernard's mother, who did not give her full name, said her son is innocent.
"He was in the apartment with another girl," she said. "He goes to check on the baby. My son didn't do anything."
