(Trail Creek, IN) - Charges have been filed in connection with a 2-year-old boy who was shot in the thumb.

 

Tyler Woods, 27, of Michigan City, is charged in La Porte Superior Court 1 with neglect of a dependent as a Level 3 felony. Woods could face anywhere from a 3 to 16 year sentence.

 

Acording to court documents, Woods went to a home in Trail Creek in late October to watch several children belonging to family members who were out of town. The investigation shows he left a loaded handgun in the pocket of his jacket that he had placed in the corner of a room.

 

Woods told investigators he was in the kitchen getting ready to fix dinner when he heard the gun fire once. One child had accidentally been shot int he thumb. He and another woman immediately took the child to the hospital.

 

According to the investigaion, the boy found the gun, removed it from the pocket of the jacket, and fired it.