A Ramsey County judge has found a St. Paul man guilty of two gun crimes after his 13-year-old niece accidentally shot an 11-year-old boy in the head inside his apartment in March.
Martinez Castillo Lloyd, 34, was convicted Monday of felony possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a crime of violence and gross misdemeanor negligent storage of a firearm where a child is likely to gain access. He’s scheduled for a Nov. 6 sentencing.
Martinez Castillo Lloyd (Courtesy of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office)
Children were playing with Lloyd’s guns on March 29 when a gun went off and the boy was shot. He was transported to the hospital, where he underwent multiple surgeries.
Lloyd waived his right to a jury trial, electing to have Judge John Guthmann decide the verdict. A court trial was held July 23-24.
Officers responded to the Frogtown apartment building where Lloyd lives on a report of a shooting. They arrived just before 9 p.m. to apartments on Pierce Butler Route and Victoria Street and “a chaotic scene” with numerous juveniles, where they found the 11-year-old lying at the top of the stairs inside the building, according to the criminal complaint filed against Lloyd.
Several juveniles said a girl picked up a firearm and said, “I won’t shoot him” before shooting the boy in the head and running away.
Police determined the 13-year-old girl lives on Charles Avenue and arrested her in the 100 block of Charles Avenue. As police were taking her into custody, she said, “I accidently shot somebody” and “I didn’t know the gun was loaded,” the complaint said. Police arrested her on suspicion of assault.
In the apartment, police found a loaded Smith & Wesson revolver under a couch cushion and a spent bullet beneath a sofa. On the top shelf of a built-in dresser/shelving unit, which had unlocked doors, police located a loaded Springfield Hellcat 9mm semiautomatic pistol. No gun safe or any other form of locked cabinet was in the apartment.
The girl testified that she regularly visited her uncle’s apartment to see her cousins. About a year before the shooting, they found the Smith & Wesson revolver on the top shelf of the dresser unit in the bedroom. They later found the Hellcat pistol in the same spot. They had to climb up the dresser unit to reach the guns.
The children held the revolver and took pictures with it. They played with the guns more than 10 times, she testified, according to Guthmann’s ruling.
On two occasions, Lloyd caught the children with a firearm and told them to “put it back and stop touching stuff,” she testified. He showed them how to put the Hellcat on safety and to “treat every gun like it is loaded.” She knew that the revolver could not be put on safety.
They continued playing with the guns even after being warned not to. They were always in the same place and they were never in any kind of locked cabinet.
On the night of the shooting, Lloyd told them he was going to the store. After he left, Lloyd’s son got the Hellcat and began playing with it. While one of the kids was waving it around, the girl asked if it was loaded and the child said “yes.” The girl said to put it back so he exchanged it for the Smith & Wesson revolver. While she was holding the gun, it just “went off” and the boy was shot.
In an interview with police, Lloyd said he kept the guns on the armoire’s top shelf and that they were not secured or locked up, according to Guthmann’s ruling. He admitted catching the children playing with his guns in the past. He said the guns are usually loaded, but that he takes out the bullets when the kids come over.
Upon his return from the store, police were on site and someone said that a child had been shot on the third floor. He immediately concluded the shooting was in his apartment because they mentioned the third floor and he had children in his apartment.
He kept them in the same place
Lloyd is not eligible to possess firearms because he has a conviction for third-degree drug sale, stemming from a 2010 case, which state law defines as a crime of violence.
Guthmann pointed out that Lloyd admitted keeping the two firearms in his apartment, explaining that he did so for his protection. He admitted putting them in the location where they were found by the children and he admitted keeping them loaded.
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Guthmann concluded that Lloyd’s statement to police, the police investigation and the girl’s testimony “conclusively establish that (Lloyd) failed to use reasonable care” in the storage of his loaded guns.
“The Smith & Wesson and Hellcat were undisputedly loaded firearms,” the judge wrote. “He kept leaving them in the same place knowing that his under-18 children and his under-18 nieces and nephews were accessing and playing with the guns. Thus, (Lloyd) knew or reasonably should have known that children would access the guns.”
St. Paul police presented an investigation involving the girl to the county attorney’s office for review. Because of her age, the county attorney’s office said Thursday they couldn’t release information about whether she is charged.
Generally, information about juveniles is public if they are 16 and older and charged with a felony, or if they are younger and certified to stand trial as an adult.
