Alabama woman convicted in shooting death of 13-month-old son
A Huntsville woman charged with murder in the 2018 shooting death of her infant son was found guilty of manslaughter on Thursday.
WAFF is reporting Aleisha Parker, 35, was found guilty in the trial that began Tuesday. A sentencing hearing is set for April 27, according to court records.
Aleisha Parker was originally charged with murder along with her husband Bradley in the child’s death, until a hearing later that year when a Madison County judge said the testimony suggested the case was a “horrible accident.”
Dante suffered a gunshot wound at the Parker family’s Tybee Drive home in the early morning hours of Aug. 25, 2018. The child was downstairs, apparently in a play pen, when the shooting happened.
At a preliminary hearing in 2018, Madison County sheriff’s investigator Jason Payne recounted several statements made by the Parkers and testified that their stories at first appeared to be concocted.
The husband later told investigators that he went downstairs that morning and saw his wife holding a gun near the child’s play pen, Payne testified.
The husband, in an attempt to prevent his wife from harming herself or their child, tried to take the gun away, Payne testified. The gun, a Smith and Wesson .38-caliber revolver, went off during the struggle, and Dante was struck by a bullet.
Initially, the couple told conflicting stories about how the gun went off. However, investigators said the accounts did not match with the physical evidence.