Parents, uncle sentenced in shooting death of 4-year-old boy in Gaston County

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — The parents and uncle of a 4-year-old boy have been sentenced after he was accidentally shot by his sister in December.

It happened on Dec. 13 at a mobile home on Cindy Lane, which is near Gastonia. The boy and his sibling found the gun with one round in the chamber on the coffee table, police said. The sister fired the gun once, hitting the boy, who died at the scene, police said.

Savannah Leigh Brehm, 22, Hector Manuel Mendoza-Saucedo, 22, and Keith Deshawn Sturghill, 21 were charged with felony involuntary manslaughter, felony child abuse and the misdemeanor charge of storing a firearm in a manner accessible to a minor.

The boy, who authorities identified as Michael Mendoza, was the child of Brehm and Mendoza-Saucedo. Sturghill was his uncle, authorities said.

All three live at the home on Cindy Lane, investigators said.

On Monday, all three adults were given probation sentences:

• Brehm was given 36 months of probation.
• Mendoza-Saucedo was given 36 months of probation.
• Sturghill was given 24 months of probation.

No further information was released.

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