A Georgia father has been arrested after his three-year-old son accessed a firearm and fatally shot himself inside a home. Prosecutors are now pursuing involuntary manslaughter charges, seven months after the tragedy.
Dante Vinson, who now lives in Oglethorpe, south of Macon, is charged with felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless conduct in connection with the March death of his son, Kamron West.
Investigators said the toddler gained access to a gun at a property in Butler, Georgia, and suffered a fatal, self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The arrest came after an extensive investigation into how the child reached the weapon and whether the shooting could have been prevented.
The shooting took place on Saturday, March 7. Deputies were dispatched to the property at about 5:20 p.m. following a report that someone had been shot.
As officers made their way to the scene, they were told that the shooting victim was a very young child.
The boy’s mother had already placed him in her vehicle and started driving to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in an urgent effort to get him medical attention.
Emergency responders met the vehicle on the way and took over attempts to save the child’s life.
Dante Vinson was arrested after his young son, Kamron West, fatally shot himself with a gun at a Georgia home in March of this year
Vinson faces felony involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor reckless conduct charges over how Kamron gained access to the firearm
Despite the emergency efforts, the child died from his gunshot wound.
Kamron’s mother, Joanna Nicole Vinson, later shared the desperate steps she took to keep her son alive as the tragedy unfolded.
In a heartbreaking Facebook post published on March 8, the day after the shooting, she said she performed CPR, gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and applied pressure to the wound in an attempt to save him.
‘Mommy tried, mommy tried baby mommy tried,’ she wrote. ‘Mouth to mouth, cpr, holding the pressure! Mommy tried
‘You left me baby you left me. Where do I go from here where lord where. What is the reason Jesus please God give me strength.’
The fatal shooting led to an investigation by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and detectives with the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office.
For more than seven months, investigators reviewed the events before the child’s death, focusing in particular on how the firearm became accessible to him.
The investigation eventually resulted in Vinson’s arrest, which the sheriff’s office announced last Wednesday.
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Authorities have not explained exactly how Kamron got hold of the gun, and have not said where the weapon was kept or whether it had been secured
Kamron’s mother, Joanna Nicole Vinson, desperately performed CPR and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation in an effort to save her son. She is pictured with Dante Vinson
Kam’s heartbroken mother posted several tributes following the death of her son
Authorities have not explained exactly where the gun was kept, whether it was loaded and left unsecured, or how long the child had access to it before the shooting.
However, officials made clear that the criminal allegations arise directly from the circumstances in which the child was able to reach the weapon.
‘This was an extremely tragic incident involving the loss of an innocent three-year-old child,’ Taylor County Sheriff John Sawyer said in a statement.
‘No investigation or criminal charge can undo the loss of a young life.’
The sheriff stressed the case should serve as a warning to gun owners about the consequences of failing to prevent children from reaching firearms.
He urged anyone keeping a weapon at home to ensure it was properly secured and inaccessible to youngsters.
‘A moment of carelessness can result in consequences that can never be reversed,’ Sawyer warned.
Six months after her son’s death, Vinson was still struggling to come to terms with losing him, revealing in another emotional Facebook post how she repeatedly relived his final moments.
Kam’s tragic death prompted a lengthy investigation involving the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and local sheriff’s deputies
Family members continue to post online about the loss they’ve suffered following the little boy’s death
‘6 months and it seems like forever since I seen your sweet face. 6 months I’ve fought so hard with this depression,’ she wrote in September.
‘6 months of replaying my scream when I got the news. 6 months replaying you looking at me while you take your final breaths.’
She continued: ‘2 years was not enough time I deserved more than what I got. 6 months of feeling like I’m living in hell!’
The grieving mother ended her message: ‘I swear mommy is trying so hard to get on the right path to be with you again, just know I’m not giving up. I love you my handsome man! Kisses to heaven. MY HARDEST GOODBYE.’