Sentenced: Tasha Dillard Was Drinking Tequila In The Parking Lot When Her Gun Was Found By 4YO Boy

[Sugar Cookie]

Tasha Dillard will spend 37 months with the Kansas Department of Corrections and 24 months post-release, for her role in a shooting that left a 7-year-old Davion Gunter dead as a result of playing with guns.

Dillard was initially charged with first-degree murder. In September, she pleaded guilty to one count of involuntary manslaughter and six counts of child endangerment. Dillard’s attorneys also requested a lesser sentence, which the judge granted.

Prosecutors said that on the night of March 15, Dillard and her other friends were in the car drinking tequila while seven children, including Davion, were alone in an apartment.

One of the children discovered a gun in Dillard’s purse on the kitchen counter. They went into a bedroom to “play guns,” and it was there that Davion was shot in the stomach. Dillard was not Davion’s mother.

Dillard initially denied owning or having any guns in the house, but investigators found that she had posted a video earlier in the day on social media, showing herself holding a gun. The video was also saved on her phone.

Wichita woman sentenced to 3 years in 7-year-old’s shooting death

A Wichita woman will spend three years in prison for her role in a shooting that left a 7-year-old boy dead as a result of playing with guns.

www.kwch.com

While inside without adult supervision, one of the children, a 4-year-old, discovered a loaded gun in the apartment and shot Gunter in the upper torso, according to KAKE and The Wichita Eagle. The 7-year-old was taken to the hospital, where he later died of his injuries.

The 4-year-old told authorities that he found the weapon in Dillard’s purse, which was unattended on the counter in the kitchen, The Wichita Eagle reported, citing an affidavit. The child also told police that the kids were “playing guns” when Gunter was shot, and that he had discharged the weapon after following the 7-year-old into Dillard’s bedroom, according to the Kansas newspaper.

Other children told authorities that some of them had played with “an orange toy gun earlier in the night,” and said they had posed with the real gun thinking it was also a toy, according to The Wichita Eagle.

While appearing before a judge at her Oct. 16 sentencing hearing, Dillard apologized, according to The Wichita Eagle. Speaking in the courtroom, she tearfully said that she “never intended for anybody to get hurt,” adding, “I wish I had never been outside that night.”

Gunter’s mother, Ataya Johnson, is a friend of Dillard’s, and requested leniency for the 25-year-old at the emotional hearing, asking the judge to grant her friend probation instead of prison time, The Wichita Eagle reported.

"I don’t think that she deserves to go to prison,” Johnson said at the hearing, according to the newspaper. She also described Dillard as a “really good person," adding, “She wouldn’t hurt anybody.”

Woman Was Drinking Tequila Shots with Friends When a 4-Year-Old Found Her Gun and Fatally Shot a Young Boy

Tasha Dillard of Kansas was drinking tequila shots with her friends when a 4-year-old child found her gun and used it to fatally shoot 7-year-old Davion Gunter in March. On Oct. 16, Dillard was sentenced to 37 months in prison for the fatal incident.

people.com

Was Gunter's mom with Dillard while her son was shot?

Here is a link to the gofundme Ataya Johnson created

Donate to In Memory of Davion Gunter Jr. Funeral Support Needed, organized by Ataya Johnson

It is with heavy hearts that I share the tragic loss of my son Dav… Ataya Johnson needs your support for In Memory of Davion Gunter Jr. Funeral Support Needed

www.gofundme.com