Boy, 8, shoots 4-yr-old sister; mom cleans up mess, goes back to work

Ashland (Ohio):  An 8-year-old boy loaded a rifle, repeatedly shot his 4-year-old sister at home and then informed their mother, who left work to check the girl's injuries, cleaned up a bloody bed cover and returned to work, leaving the children alone again, a prosecutor said.

Alyssa Edwards, 27, is jailed on child endangerment charges related to the Saturday shooting in Hayesville, about 70 miles southwest of Cleveland.

Her attorney, Donald Wick, said Tuesday that he had just received the case and couldn't yet comment.

An arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday. Edwards tearfully appeared for court Monday via video and said that there was no information that a magistrate needed to consider before he set her bond at USD 30,000, The Ashland Times-Gazette reported.

Ashland County Prosecutor Christopher Tunnell said Edwards was contacted about the shooting around 10 am while working at a horse farm and returned to work about an hour later, not taking the girl to the hospital until hours after the shooting.

The 4-year-old girl was stable Monday at a children's hospital in Cleveland. Her injuries aren't considered life-threatening, Ashland County sheriff's Chief Deputy Carl Richert said. He had told WJW-TV the girl was shot at least once in the stomach area.

The boy was in the custody of children's services.

The rifle was kept in a gun locker with other firearms, and the boy knew how to open the locker if it was locked, Tunnell said.