This is a horrible tragedy that unfortunately could have been avoided. I wasn’t going to post about it because I felt so bad for 24-year-old Joshua John-Robert Henry but considering how fucking stupid he was most of my sympathy (for him at least) went away very quickly.
Joshua was caring for his two-year-old daughter Cheyanne at his home in Pooler, Georgia for two weeks back at the beginning of July. She normally lives with her mother in Clarksville, Tennesee since the couple divorced. From all outward signs at least Cheyanne was loved deeply by both her father and mother and neither of them would ever do anything to harm her, at least intentionally. Unfortunately our intentions aren’t always everything.
On July 5th Henry and his roommate were talking and preparing breakfast and talking (his roommate had returned from Afghanistan around 3am) when they hear a gunshot.
Apparently Cheyanne picked up a .40-caliber Springfield XD from the nightstand next to her daddy’s bed and managed to pull the trigger, putting a single round through her chest. The Springfield is a pretty common service weapon and it comes as no surprise that Joshua Henry owned one. It’s unfortunate for his daughter that he didn’t take better precautions.
An ambulance transported the toddler to Memorial University Medical Center where she was pronounced dead.
Both parents are distraught as I know that their family and friends are.
Henry, a soldier in the 3rd Infantry Division’s Brigade Combat Team and a former U.S. Ranger, has been charged with Reckless Endangerment and Contributing to the Deprivation of a Minor, a felony. Evidence shows that not only was the gun left on the bedside table without any type of gun lock but had been left with a round in the chamber. So either Henry was always careless or he just forgot, which is inexcusable. He was arraigned yesterday and lodged in the Chatham County Jail and bond set at $3,500. This is also not his first trip to the Chatham County Jail, having been arrested for DUI back in February in Port Wentworth.
I came across this story over at Savannah Morning News and the story I read was extremely sympathetic toward Henry and almost seemed to espouse leniency. That just pisses me off even though I feel bad for the dude too. Hell, anyone with kids could tell you he has to be going through hell. I have kids. I also have guns. Those fucking guns have LOCKS on them. Yeah, I know that doesn’t help much in the case of home invasion or whatever argument you want to use. At the very least firearms need to be kept out of arm’s reach. In the case of Cheyanne he probably could have simply kept it on top of a frigging dresser and it would have been out of reach. Or maybe un-chamber the motherfucker when you set it down?
