DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — Emotions are running high as a Durham mother faces charges of shooting her four-year-old child .
A quiet Saturday afternoon was upended with gunfire at the Cornwallis Road apartment complex where the four-year-old girl was shot. The child’s mother, 24-year-old Vintasia Sowell, was arrested shortly after the incident. She is charged with felony child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
When police arrived at the scene, they said the four-year-old victim was already at a nearby hospital after being taken there in a personal vehicle.
Warrants say Sowell “did cause a rifle to be fired, resulting in [her daughter] being struck on her left side damaging her spleen, liver, kidney, and stomach.” The warrants also say Sowell used a .223 rifle and the incident was caused by “other than accidental means”.
On Monday, Sowell made a brief court appearance after posting a $50,000 bond. CBS 17 tried to ask her how this all happened. She refused a request for comment from CBS 17 and shouted obscenities before leaving the courthouse.