Documents: Eldon man left loaded gun on table before child was shot

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

An Eldon man left a loaded handgun on a living room table before a child was shot to death Sunday, according to court documents.

Albert G. Keel, 27, was arrested Sunday at a home in the 600 block of North Mill Street in Eldon after frst responders found a boy dead with a gunshot wound to the head, the Miller County Sheriff's Office said.

He is charged with a single count of child endangerment and was in the Miller County Jail on Tuesday without bond. No hearings have been set.

Keel told investigators that he had been playing video games until about 6 a.m. and then went to bed while leaving the handgun loaded on the table, according to a probable cause statement.

Keel says he ran into a bedroom to see the victim lying on the floor with a gunshot wound. Keel told investigators that he believed the victim shot himself.

An Eldon Police Department officer wrote in the probable statement that Keel was negligent with the gun.