FORT COLLINS, Colo. — A Fort Collins mother whose son died after he accidentally shot himself pleaded guilty to a single count Tuesday of child abuse resulting in death.
Rosinetta Mackall is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
She and her husband, Ron Matthews, were both charged in connection with the death of Mackall's son, Roy Summer, on April 10, according to FCPS.
>The video above is a prior report about the case.
Around 6:30 that night, authorities responded to a call from a home in the 1200 block of East Lincoln Avenue. The caller reported that a child in the home had just shot himself, FCPS said.
Investigators arrived and found the boy on the bathroom floor with obvious trauma to his face, the affidavit says. The coroner later determined that Roy had suffered a close-range shot to the head at an upward angle. His death was ruled an accident.
Mackall was initially charged with the following:
- Child abuse – knowingly/recklessly causes death
- Unlawful storage of a firearm
Mackall gave conflicting stories, according to an arrest affidavit, about how and why she moved the gun to that bathroom where her son found it as he was getting into the shower, according to the affidavit.
Detectives interviewed Matthews, who was living at a hotel due to a protection order related to a prior domestic violence incident involving Mackall, an affidavit says. He was not present when the shooting happened.
When questioned about his interactions with Mackall surrounding the incident, Matthews lied and tampered with evidence of their conversation, FCPS said.
As a result, he faced the following charges
- Attempt to influence a public servant
- Tampering with physical evidence
He pleaded guilty in September to tampering with evidence and was sentenced in October to 30 months of probation, according to court records.
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