A 25-year-old father is accused of going shopping at the Galleria Mall while he left his 2 and 4-year-old children alone in the car with a gun.
Officials say the reason the man abandoned his children and put them in harm’s way was to buy cologne.
Investigators say the kids were found screaming and crying in the vehicle not strapped in seat belts or car seats, and the Glock that was left in arm’s reach was loaded.
25-year-old Michael King is charged with felony child abandonment with intent to return after what Houston Police say he did back on Nov. 17th.
Officials say a witness and a security guard saw the children and waited for someone to come back to the car, but when that didn’t happen, the police were called.
“And then the defendant came back to the car, now no matter how long children are left in the car that’s never a good thing,” the judge said during King’s first court appearance.
She also pointed out some of the many risks involved.
“It’s all fun and games until a 4-year-old shoots his brother, it’s all fun and games until someone breaks into the car and harms the children or kidnaps the children and finds the gun and kills somebody with it,” the judge added.
Andy Kahan, Director of Victim Services for Crime Stoppers of Houston, helped pass a state law making adults criminally responsible for failure to properly store firearms.
“It’s simple logic, I mean, gun deaths are the leading cause for children in this day and age,” he said.
Kahan’s message to King mirrors that of HPD.
“Please, please, please, don’t leave guns in cars if it’s not in a safe,” said Houston Police Chief, Troy Finner.
“You should know better,” Kahan said.
The judge pointed out that King, who is a stay-at-home father, had one job, and that was to watch the kids.
But that did not happen in this case.
King was released on a $5,000 bond and ordered to stay away from the mall. According to court documents, he’s not allowed to be around the kids he allegedly abandoned.
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