Prosecutor’s office charges Sedalia man after accidental shooting of boy

SEDALIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Pettis County Prosecutor's Office has charged a Sedalia man accused of accidentally shooting a boy.

Byron A. Guider Jr. is charged in Pettis County with felony counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child that resulted in serious injury and unlawful use of a firearm.

Police officers responded to a home in the 1600 block of W. 9th Street around 2:15 p.m. on Friday after a woman called dispatch to report her five-year-old son had been shot.

The boy was shot after Gruider Jr. was trying to unjam a handgun and the weapon went off, according to court documents.

The boy's mother took the child to Bothwell Hospital in Sedalia for treatment of his injuries. Investigators said the boy was later flown to Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, where the boy is stable but in critical condition.

Guider Jr. told investigators he knew about the gun but denied holding the weapon or any part of the gun, according to court documents.

Public court records show Guider Jr. was expected to get arraigned at the Pettis County Courthouse on Monday morning.