Port Orange grandparents arrested for shooting death of grandchild, prosecutors say

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — Grandparents in Port Orange have been charged Tuesday for the accidental shooting death of their 8-year-old grandchild, police said.

Robert and Sabrina Potter were each charged with culpable negligence for having a loaded weapon within reach of minors, investigators said.

Christopher Scurry, 8, and his 12-year-old brother J'Enthen Scurry were visiting their grandparents in July like they do every summer when the shooting happened, police said.

The Potters went to Atlanta and left the boys in the care of their great-grandfather, who is 79-years-old, a diagnosed schizophrenic, has a feeding tube and relies on a home health care worker every three hours when the couple isn’t home, police said.

The 12-year-old boy found a loaded Skyy 9MM pistol in a filing cabinet that was stored in the garage and accidentally shot and killed his brother, police said. The 12-year-old initially told police that his brother shot himself, but police determined that was a lie, investigators said.

During questioning, Sabrina Potter admitted to investigators that she placed the firearm in the top drawer of the filing cabinet after an argument with her husband. She said her husband did not know the weapon was in the cabinet, police said.

Sabrina Potter said she suspected the children knew where the gun was because the filing cabinet was near a refrigerator where the children used to get snacks and that she found snack wrappers near the filing cabinet, police said.

"There is nothing that we did wrong. We didn't do anything," said Sabrina Potter.

Investigators determined the Skyy 9MM was one of the several firearms stolen from Skyy Industries in South Daytona in Feb. 3, 2009. Robert Potter bought the weapon from a man in Jacksonville

Detectives determined that because the Potter’s attended firearm classes, combined with Sabrina Potter’s experience as a firefighter (retired) they possess the knowledge to exercise the proper firearm safety, such as locking up firearms. And that they should have known better to lock up other firearms, but not place one in a filing cabinet that was easily accessed by minor, investigators said.

The mother of the boys, Davina Gooden, said in a statement: "(There are) no wins in this situation. My heart goes out to my parents and I pray all is well with them. Mom I love you now and always."

Cox Media Group