Grandmother faces endangering charge in child's death

Staff report

youngstown

The grandmother of a 4-year-old boy who died of a gunshot wound in her North Side apartment July 8 was indicted on a charge of child endangering Thursday by a Mahoning County grand jury.

An indictment says Pamela Easterly, 52, of Fairgreen Avenue, failed to properly supervise children in her care and created a risk to their safety that resulted in the death of her grandson, 4-year-old Raytwon Briggs.

Police say Raytwon died of a gunshot wound to the head. There was another child in the room where Raytwon died at the time, and there were three loaded handguns in that room.

Police were called to the apartment just before 11 p.m., where Raytwon’s grandmother, Easterly, told officers her grandson had shot himself in a back bedroom.

Police found Raytwon on a bed lying on his back with a bullet wound to the eye, reports said. Investigators questioned Easterly and the other children and also gave everyone a gunshot-residue test to see if anyone else had fired a gun.

Lt. Doug Bobovynik of the Detective Bureau said the results of tests done on the guns and others that night have still not come back, but he said whatever happened, police believe it was accidental.

Bobovnyik said Easterly was indicted because prosecutors felt it was her responsibility to be keeping an eye on the children and to know what was in her apartment.

The charge is a third- degree felony and was filed on a direct presentment. Easterly is expected to be arraigned later this month before Common Pleas Judge Maureen Sweeney.