PHOTO: From the GoFundMe account page
LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss.–The shooting death of four-year-old Brayden Barksdale about 8 a.m. Monday at his mother’s home on a rural road south of Columbus has been ruled a homicide and deputies have the mom’s boyfriend, Patrick Chambers, in jail.
Chambers is a convicted felon, from North Dakota, and had been in Mississippi for a couple of months. He is charged with murder and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Deputies said the call came in as an accidental shooting. The gun was a .45/70 hunting rifle.
Coroner Greg Merchant told WCBI that he had suspicions about the shooting from the beginning and that there was no way it was an accident.
An autopsy was done Tuesday morning at the state crime lab. The sheriff’s department was not saying much about the investigation, but did tell the TV station that the shooting was not point blank, which likely led them to conclude the child did not shoot himself.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Brayden’s mom, Angela Barksdale, with burial expenses.
http://www.gofundme.com/kih7l0
