Guy Shoots Neighbor's Toddler In Head After GF Asks To 'Shut Him Up'
A man shot a toddler in the head, leaving the boy fighting for his life after his fiancée told the man to “shut him up,” a court heard.
Harry Studley, who was just 18 months old, was airlifted to a hospital and needed emergency lifesaving surgery after he was shot by Jordan Walters.
Harry had been brought to Walters and Emma Horseman's apartment in Bristol, England, by his mom Amy Allen, a college friend of Horseman's.
But while Allen's two boys were crying, Horseman told Walters, who was cleaning his air rifle, to “shoot Harry just to frighten him, shut him up,” it is alleged.
Both Horseman and Walters, dad-of-two, thought the weapon was not loaded, so he fired it at Harry's head, penetrating his skull.
Walters, 24, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm (GBH), but Horseman, also 24, denied the same charge by aiding and abetting him.
At Bristol Crown Court, prosecutor Andrew Macfarlane said,
While Harry was crying Amy heard Emma say, 'Shoot Harry just to frighten him, shut him up, shoot it at Harry.” Then Amy heard the sound of a gun firing. It appeared to Amy that Jordan had aimed the gun at Harry and fired it right into Harry's head, which is indeed what happened as you will hear.
The incident happened last July.
After the shooting, Harry was flown by air ambulance to Bristol Royal Infirmary, where surgeons performed surgery to remove a blood clot that saved his life while his parents, Adams and Edward Studley, waited for good news.
Although Harry survived, six months later, the pellet remains inside his head, and he is still suffering from the incident.
He suffered a displaced skull fracture and swelling and bleeding on the brain, the jury was told. Harry is still suffering several post-traumatic seizures every day and may need a tube to drain fluid away.
The prosecution alleges Horseman, along with Walters, was “reckless to the point of extreme.”
The case continues.
Citations: 'Shoot Harry just to frighten him - shut him up': Girlfriend 'egged on man to shoot neighbour's crying 18-month-old boy in the head with air rifle' (MailOnline)
