ALTOONA, Fla. – A Lake County couple has been arrested on child neglect charges after deputies say a 4-year-old shot off a portion of his finger with a gun he found in the couch.
Donald Greeson, 40, initially told deputies on Sunday he left the gun on top of the entertainment center at their home on Georgia Road in Altoona, according to the report. Greeson later told deputies he had set the gun on the couch, and that he had smoked marijuana and took prescription pills the day before the shooting incident.
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The child told authorities he knew the gun was in the couch because he had seen an adult in the home place it there the night before, according to the report. The 4-year-old said he took it from the couch and went outside, where it went off, shooting off a portion of his left finger.
The child was taken to Florida Hospital South in Orlando, where the finger had to be removed, deputies said.
Deputies searched the home and found marijuana within reach of the child, along with prescription pills in the same bedroom the child was sleeping on the floor of. They also found paraphernalia include a bong, pipe and a digital scale with residue, within reach of the child
Greeson and Tracy Greeson were arrested on child neglect charges. Donald Greeson also was charged with unsafe storage of a firearm, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, possession of paraphernalia and possession of methamphetamine.
The Department of Children and Families is also conducting an investigation. It's not clear what the relationship between Greeson and the child is.