Court records tell tale of accident and desperation in death of 3-year-old boy

RONAN – Emergency dispatchers received a 911 call at about 8:22 p.m. Oct. 22. A three-year-old boy lay dying in a car that was speeding toward St. Luke Community Hospital in Ronan.

The child, who later died, was shot with a small-caliber handgun and was fighting for life while Galen Hawk, Katrina Michael and Raymond Collier drove him from their Ninepipes home, according to a Lake County Court affidavit.

Once in the emergency room the three adults told emergency workers they were not his parents, but that Michael had legal custody of the child since summer, and that the child lived with her.

Though all of the adults were in the house when the child was shot, none knew where the gun could be located. Michael was in a bedroom when she heard the gunshot and ran to the hall, where she saw the child bleeding. She did not know there were guns in her house, the affidavit said.

Collier told officials he was in another room when he heard a gunshot and did not witness the event. Collier notified law enforcement that Hawk had a 380 Taurus Pistol magazine in his pocked.

Hawk said he was in the hall with the child, heard the gunfire and saw the child drop to the ground, so he picked the boy up and began CPR, the affidavit said.  

Hawk reported seeing the child playing with a toy gun when the gunshot rang out.

The toy gun was described at bright orange plastic and Hawk later said he wasn’t sure if the child was playing with a toy or real weapon. Hawk was found with a, “fully-loaded 6-round 380 magazine for a Taurus Pistol,” the affidavit said.

Law enforcement officers obtained consent to search the trio’s car where they found a 12-gauge shot gun on the front passenger’s seat of their vehicle, but were unable to locate a small handgun, the affidavit said.

Law enforcement then secured the crime scene near Ninepipes Reservoir where they found a Taurus 380 pistol, which Collier later said belonged to Hawk.

Collier told police he knew Hawk “had a few drinks” and assumed Hawk accidentally fired the gun, but that he did not see what actually occurred, the affidavit said.

Hawk later confessed to “drinking Seagram’s whisky and Mike’s Hard Lemonade prior to the shooting and was ‘buzzed’,” the affidavit said.

The Lake County Medical examiner determined the boy was killed by a single gunshot that entered at the upper back near the right shoulder and passed through the body in a downward trajectory, exiting at the lower left chest and that there was possible stippling on the child’s face.

When confronted with the evidence that showed the child being shot in the back, Hawk was unable to explain, the affidavit said.

Lake County Detective Mike Sargent asked Hawk if he was playing “gun tag” with the child when the gun went off, and Hawk said that was possible.

“(Hawk) eventually stated that he saw (the child) holding his gun and took the gun…When he did so (the child) began running down the hallway while looking back over his shoulder at (Hawk). (Hawk) said (the child) was holding a toy gun and pretending to shoot at (Hawk.) (Hawk) saw (the child) fall and immediately picked him up and took him to St. Luke Hospital,” the affidavit said.

Hawk told law enforcement he thought the pistol was not loaded because he had the spare magazine in his pocket. Sheriff’s officials located the fatal bullet under the carpet in the house, the affidavit said.

Hawk was arraigned Oct. 24 on felony negligent homicide. No trial date is set.