TOMBALL, Texas (KTRK) — A man has been charged with two felonies after trying to hide gun and shell casings when he discovered his toddler had shot himself in Tomball Thursday morning, according to court documents.
The child’s father, 25-year-old Lucas Nahum Benitez, was charged with deadly conduct involving discharging a firearm and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, records show.
Lucas Benitez, 25, faces two crimes after trying to hide the gun with which his 3-year-old son shot himself.
Court documents indicate that the child’s mother, three-year-old Billy Falbo, was lying on the bed in her apartment while the child was on the floor next to her playing with a toy, when she heard a popping sound, followed by crying. The documents added that Valpo and Benitez immediately took him to a nearby hospital, where he was treated for a gunshot wound to his hand.
According to the documents, Falbo told officers she owned a gun and kept it in her purse with the safety on, adding that her purse was on the nightstand that morning, but when officers searched the apartment, they did not find the purse or gun.
Both parents were present at the hospital when staff reported the child’s injury to the Tomball Police Department, and shortly after hearing about police involvement, Benitez told Valpo he was going to turn off the car but never returned, records show.
The documents also state that later that afternoon, hospital staff told officers that a man, named Santiago Herrera Fernandez, came to the hospital with a large wallet and a children’s book bag, claiming the items belonged to Valpo, and that Benitez had called him to ask for help earlier.
The two met at a CVS, where Benitez gave the bags to Herrera Fernandez and told him he had “thrown away” the gun, the documents said.
Benitez is currently in prison and is expected to appear in court on Friday.
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