A 41-year-old DoorDash driver in Detroit faces multiple charges after leaving her five children alone in a car with an unsecured gun, resulting in her 11-year-old son fatally shooting his 6-year-old sister. The incident occurred in a parking lot while the mother picked up a food order. Authorities have described the event as negligent, leading to lifelong trauma for the family.
On Monday around noon, Tonya Charisse-Annice Johnson, 41, was working as a DoorDash driver and arrived at a restaurant in the parking lot on the 9700 block of Harper Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. She left her five children, aged 2 to 11, unattended in the vehicle, where an unsecured handgun was present, according to the Detroit Police Department.
The 11-year-old son discovered the gun and fired it, striking his 6-year-old sister in the head and causing a fatal wound. Police responded to the scene at approximately 12:06 p.m. and transported the girl to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her name has not been released.
Johnson has been charged with three counts of second-degree child abuse, one count of failing to securely store a firearm resulting in death, and four counts of felony firearm. She appeared virtually in court on Thursday, where she was seen wiping away tears. Her defense attorney stated that "nobody feels worse right now" than Johnson.
Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Aniela Bosca commented on the tragedy, saying, "There is going to be life-long trauma that this young man is going to suffer as a result of shooting his sister. Knowing that he killed her, the other children that were in the vehicle watching this happen, and this was negligible."
Johnson is scheduled to return to court on March 13. The case highlights concerns over child safety and firearm storage in vehicles.