LANSING, Mich. (News 10) – A Lansing man has pleaded guilty to a safe storage violation and other weapons charges after a 4-year-old girl shot and killed herself with an unsecured gun in January.
The Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office announced Friday Maliki Pendergrass on Thursday pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Safe storage of a firearm violation resulting in the death of a minor (15-year felony)
- Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person due to a prior felony conviction (5-year felony)
- Felony-firearm (mandatory 2-year consecutive felony sentence)
- Habitual offender sentence enhancement, third offense, based on prior 2020 Ingham County convictions for armed robbery and carrying a concealed weapon
The incident happened on Jan. 21 at a home on Sadie Court in Lansing. Authorities said at the time the gun the young girl was shoved under a couch the night before the shooting.
Pendergrass, on parole at the time of the shooting, was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother. The arrest affidavit says he pushed the loaded gun under the couch and “towards the wall” the night before the incident…