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Mother of Pine Hills boy who shot himself charged with neglect

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The mother of a young boy who investigators said accidentally shot himself in the head with her gun, has been arrested on suspicion of negligence.

Prosecutors slapped Jennifer Christian with two felonies, one for neglect, and the other for culpable negligence.

The stiff charges come 16 months after police said Jovan Christian grabbed his mother’s .380-caliber handgun from the nightstand and fired it inside their Pine Hills apartment.

“When you have a firearm in your house and you know you have kids underage, you have to hide it, conceal it, whatever you have to do,” said a resident at the Los Robles apartment, who did not want to be identified.

Police said Jennifer Christian left the boy, who was 4-years-old at the time, at home with an underage relative at the time of the shooting.

It’s unclear why she was charged 16 months after the incident, but neighbors said they are glad someone is being held accountable.

“Justice has been served,” neighbors said.

Jovan’s father said the boy has fully recovered and he is seeking full custody of the child.

Department of Children and Families officials said they investigated the family last year, but closed their investigation without removing the boy from the home.