The stepfather of the child who died from a gunshot wound to the head in a Lewiston apartment in May has been arrested and is facing counts of manslaughter and child endangerment.
Shortly before 5 a.m. on Saturday, May 17, Lewiston Police and other emergency personnel responded to 93 Pierce St. in Lewiston for a report of a child suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
The four-year-old, later identified by Maine State Police as Jasper Smith, was transported to Central Maine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at about 7 a.m.
An autopsy was conducted at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, and the Maine State Police Major Crimes Unit and Maine Department of Health and Human Services began investigating the incident.
The boy’s father, Andrew Northham, who lives out of state, told the media in May that a family member had informed him that his son had accidentally shot himself.
On Wednesday, Maine State Police announced that they had taken the child’s stepfather, 35-year-old Robert McCoy, into custody that morning.
McCoy has been charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
The child’s mother, 27-year-old Mikayla Smith, was also arrested on unrelated warrants, police said.
Both McCoy and Smith were taken to the Androscoggin County Jail.
State Police say their investigation into the child’s death remains ongoing.
