Poster Woman for Fatal Gun Accident w/AK Clone

Gun Watch ^ | 15 August, 2016 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

Pick up a loaded AK clone, point it at your boyfriend's face at point blank range while you pin him to the bed.  The gun just "went off".  He is dead, and the woman is charged with negligent homicide.

I wonder if Rosario was right handed.  Are those bruises below her left eye?

The articles note that Gabriella does not have any prior arrests.  I found two for a Rosario Soto Leon in the Phoenix area, one on March 7th, another on April 20th, both in Maricopa County. Without further ID, it is impossible to know if it is the same Rosario Soto Leon. If it is, he would have been 20 years old. From abc15.com:

According to court paperwork, Hardee and her boyfriend, Rosario Leon, were getting ready to check out of the room when they jumped onto the bed together.

Hardee admitted to picking up the gun that was on the bed next to Leon. She picked up the weapon, put her hand on the trigger and the weapon discharged. She told officers she pointed the gun at a downward angle that was directly at her boyfriend’s head.

Fatal gun accidents have become quite rare in the United States.  There are only about 500 a year.  That is down from 3200 in 1932.  The per capita rate of fatal gun accidents has dropped by 94% in that time period.

It does not appear that Gabriella was trained in how to use the rifle, or had any safety training with firearms, generally.  From 12news.com:

Police said based on the knowledge Hardee had that Leon usually had ammunition in the weapon and Hardee had seen it being discharged and knew it was a deadly weapon that she was operating carelessly, she will be charged with negligent homicide.

The case seems a classic example of what criminologist Gary Kleck wrote about in "Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America" the classic text on guns, gun use, yse if guns in crime and gun control in America. From Point Blank, page 297 in the chapter on "Reducing Gun Accidents":

Concerning the second premise, many gun accidents, perhaps the majority of them, involve chronically reckless people whose impulsiveness, emotional immaturity, or alcoholism cannot be eliminated by a few hours of safety training.

When those words were written in 1991, fatal gun accidents were occuring at a rate of .57 per 100,000.  The figure was .16 per 100,000 in 2013.  That is a 67% drop in only 23 years, so Mr. Kleck may have been a little pessimistic. Perhaps a high school course in gun safety would have made a difference.  But maybe not.

Rosario had only had the rifle for two and a half weeks.  He had kept the rifle loaded most of the time, according to reports.  No one has reported what Rosario did for a living to pay for things like rifles and motel rooms.

©2016 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch

[marktwain]

Point a loaded gun at someone's head, with your finger on te trigger. Hmmm.

[wyowolf]

“jumped in to bed together... and she grabs a LOADED AK next to her bed”..

what??? who keeps a loaded AK next their hotel bed??

[Oberon]

I’m having a hard time seeing how this is an “accident.”

[Oberon]

"She picked up the weapon, put her hand on the trigger and the weapon discharged."

Yeah, that's how they work.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You’ve got to feel sorry for the housekeeping staff.

[Alt Right]

You can take the girl out of the cartel...

[Revelation 911]

you sir have spent little time in Hispanic Thug Life culture

[PAR35]

Doesn’t say she had her finger on the trigger. Says ‘put her hand on the trigger’. Either a mighty big trigger or no trigger guard if she got her hand on it.

She ought to cop a plea on the negligent homicide and be thankful no one wanted to make the effort to charge her with murder.

[TexasGator]

Drug dealers

[PAR35]

who keeps a loaded AK next their hotel bed?

Well, an unloaded one isn't going to do you much good.

[wyowolf]

ahhhhh got it.

[smokingfrog]

Check out time takes on a new meaning when you have a crazy girlfriend.

[Gaffer]

To believe this person’s account of the event requires willing suspension of all disbelief.

[Reno89519]

Trust her with a loaded gun pointed at your head? No way!

[Azeem]

Neither knew how to use it. The safety select prevents any accidental discharges and should always be on unless raising the weapon to fire.

[showme_the_Glory]

I’m going for, GUILTY!