Indiana police came across a video of a baby putting a handgun in his mouth while searching the phone of a suspected robber, NBC News reported.
Michael Barnes, a 19-year-old being sought for armed robbery, was arrested Thursday after selling a gun to an undercover officer. On Friday investigators searched his phone for evidence of the attempted gun sale and discovered the harrowing video of a one-year-old boy playing with a .40 caliber handgun while Barnes is heard repeatedly telling the baby to say "pow," the Evansville Police Department said.
"The video also shows the child placing the muzzle of the gun in his mouth. At no point does Barns try to stop the child from playing with the gun," police said.
Police leaned the baby's mother, 22-year-old Toni Wilson, was present in the room during the recording. Wilson, who was also present during her boyfriend's Thursday night arrest, told police her son was holding a pellet gun.
Wilson, who has newborn twins with Barnes, was arrested and charged with child neglect, criminal recklessness with a deadly weapon and allowing a child to possess a firearm, Evansville police said.
Her boyfriend faces the same charges, as well as for carrying a handgun without a permit, resisting law enforcement with a weapon and carrying a handgun without a permit within 500 feet of a school.
Barnes is not the father of the boy in the video, police said. The couple's 1-month-old twins are now in emergency care.
Police also noted the gun in the video appears to be the same one Barnes had with him during his Thursday arrest. It was not immediately clear if the gun was loaded at the time the video was recorded.
