Parents accused of staging drive-by after 2-year-old boy shot on Mother’s Day

LAWNDALE, N.C. — Investigators said the parents of a 2-year-old boy have been charged after allegedly staging a drive-by shooting after the child was shot inside their home on Mother’s Day.

The shooting happened around 10:30 a.m. on May 9 at a home on Douglas Street near the First Baptist of Lawndale Church in Lawndale.

Investigators told Channel 9′s Ken Lemon that Tianna Jumper called 911 saying her 2-year-old son, Raquez Clark, had been shot during a drive-by shooting.

“My son’s been shot and he’s two years old,” she told the dispatcher.

Deputies said the boy was shot in the abdomen and rushed to a hospital in Shelby for emergency surgery in order to stabilize him. He was then flown to a hospital in Charlotte. Police have not released an update on his condition.

Investigators said the child’s parents, Lucentio Clark and Jumper, initially told them that the shooting was a drive-by, but on Wednesday they were both charged with obstruction of justice and staging a crime scene.

Clark, who was convicted of murder almost 20 years ago, was also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon.

Detectives said no drive-by occurred and that the boy was accidentally shot while inside the home.

According to Cleveland County Sheriff Alan Norman, investigators knew something wasn’t adding up once they looked over the scene. They said the bullet hole inside the home was made to look like it came from outside.

In court on Wednesday, Clark told the judge that he and his wife are not guilty and that they were asleep when the shooting happened.

The couple was apparently with their son in the hospital when they were arrested Tuesday night.

“He is going to be scarred for life and the members of the sheriff’s office, we just ask that the public keep this child in their prayers,” Norman said.

Investigators have not said how Raquez was shot or who pulled the trigger, but they did say they believe it was an accident.

(WATCH: 2-year-old boy shot in apparent drive-by shooting in Cleveland County, deputies say)

2-year-old boy shot in apparent drive-by shooting in Cleveland County, deputies say

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