Parents shot by toddler charged with child abuse

A two-year-old accidentally shot his parents on Saturday, and they're facing the consequences.

Monique Villescas bought the .45-calibur Smith and Wesson handgun on Saturday, and her son later pulled it out of her purse, shooting both her and his father, Justin Reynolds. The parents have been charged with child abuse without great bodily harm.

"With Second Amendment rights comes responsibility, and these parents obviously practiced no responsibility at all," Simon Drobik, a spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department, told The Albuquerque Journal. According to the Albuquerque Police Department's official complaint, Villescas and Reynolds "acted with a reckless disregard for the safety and/or health" of their child.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Reynolds, a convicted felon, was sent to the county jail on $15,000 bail. Officials are investigating whether he will be charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.