A Tennessee father taking a nap after playing with his 6-year-old son awoke to the sound of a gunshot and learned that the boy shot himself with a gun in the dad’s pocket, authorities say.
Steven Lamont Phillips, 56, has been charged with criminal homicide in the death of his son, identified in a GoFundMe as Steven Lamont Ricks. Phillips was originally charged with aggravated child neglect and unlawful gun possession after the shooting, but the charges were upgraded to criminal homicide after the boy died.
On Saturday, at a home on the 3100 block of Qualynn Drive in Nashville, the defendant was reportedly caring for his son. According to an arrest affidavit obtained by The Tennessean, the boy’s legal guardian — Phillips’ sister — was also present, but at some point, she went to take a nap…