VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – A man is facing charges after a 7-year-old boy used a BB gun to shoot a girl in the face, permanently blinding her in one eye, according to the Volusia County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said they were called to Halifax Hospital, where the victim was being treated, shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.
Recommended Videos
The girl said she was at her 13-year-old friend's house when the shooting happened. Cody Jett, who is temporarily living with that girl's family, had a BB gun in the back yard, but left it unattended, allowing a 7-year-old boy to use it, according to the report.
Deputies said Jett, 18, told them that he knew the 7-year-old boy was playing with the gun, but he thought it was unloaded so he continued recording himself on Instagram Live without taking the BB pistol from the child, who had already shot it several times.
Jett said he heard the victim tell the boy to shoot at her then he saw the child point the gun at the girl and shoot her left eye, according to the report.
Deputies said Jett took the BB gun from the boy when he saw the girl was bleeding and clutching her face.
The girl cleaned her eye out with some peroxide in the bathroom then asked her friend's father to drive her home, although she didn't tell him she'd been shot, the affidavit said.
Deputies said they found loose BBs on the ground in the area where the children were playing, meaning that even if Jett had unloaded the pistol, the boy easily could have put more BBs in it.
Jett also said that the children thought he was 16 years old, but he's actually 18.
Jett was arrested on a charge of child abuse causing great bodily harm.