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Inset: Yolonda Barfield (Douglas County Jail). Background: Authorities outside the home where Barfield’s 6-year-old daughter accidentally shot herself (WOWT).
A 33-year-old mother in Nebraska who purchased a gun because she was scared of her violent ex-boyfriend has been arrested after her 6-year-old daughter got hold of the allegedly unsecured weapon last month, accidentally shooting and killing herself.
Yolonda Barfield was taken into custody earlier this week and charged with one count of child abuse by neglect and one count of child abuse by intent in the death of young Alonni Barfield, records reviewed by Law&Crime show.
According to a news release from the Omaha Police Department, officers at about 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, responded to a reported shooting at a home in the 3200 block of Redick Avenue.
Upon arriving at the address, first responders said they located Alonni suffering from what appeared to be a gunshot wound. Paramedics with the Omaha Fire Department rushed the girl to the Nebraska Medical Center for treatment in critical condition. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the facility.
After three weeks investigating the circumstances of Alonni’s death, authorities on Monday charged Barfield in the shooting.
A probable cause affidavit obtained by the Omaha World-Herald provided additional details about the tragic shooting.
According to the report, three other children, ages 8, 13, and 15, were also in the home when Alonni suffered her fatal injuries. Police said that the victim’s 15-year-old brother was the one who found her on the floor in their mother’s bedroom and called 911.
The child was reportedly bleeding from her nose, mouth, and arm, and the firearm that discharged was located on the bed near Alonni.
Authorities reportedly discovered that Barfield had acquired the gun, which she kept in the house, because she feared her ex-boyfriend, who allegedly had a history of domestic violence against her. Barfield is accused of failing to secure the firearm, which police say her children knew about.
“[T]he children stated they knew about the firearm, where it was located and that it was always loaded, one bullet in the chamber,” officers wrote in the affidavit.
Omaha NBC affiliate WOWT reported that while Barfield initially kept the firearm hidden in a closet, she later moved the gun beneath the mattress in her bedroom — the same place Alonni would later accidentally kill herself.
Appearing court on Wednesday, Barfield was emotional as her defense attorney attempted to explain what happened, specifically claiming that the number of violent domestic incidents involving her ex-boyfriend had escalated last month and law enforcement did not help the family.
“She was scared that if he jumped and broke into her house that she wouldn’t have time to get it to protect herself and her children,” her attorney said, according to Omaha ABC affiliate KETV. “You have a woman who is reaching out to the police, continually asking for this person who’s threatened her life and her children’s lives, and specifically her older son at high school, and no arrests were made. Nothing was done.”
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine reportedly sought bond of $500,000, arguing that Barfield’s alleged crime resulted in a child’s death. Barfield’s attorney argued that without a prior criminal record, she should be held on $10,000 bond, saying she was “not a risk to anybody.”
The judge ultimately decided to hold Barfield in lieu of $25,000 bond of which she must put up 10% to be released. She remained in detention at the Douglas County Jail as of Thursday morning. She is scheduled to return to court again in February.