A mother and her fiancée were charged Tuesday after a 7-year-old student allegedly brought a gun to a Michigan elementary school in early May.
Another student reportedly saw second-grader Cesar E. Chavez with the gun in school May 3 and immediately notified school staff, who then confiscated the weapon from Chavez’s locker, according to WWMT. Chavez’s mother, 32-year-old Aubrey Wilson, faces charges of fourth-degree child abuse and a $1,000 fine, Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Chief Eric Winstrom announced. Wilson’s fiancée, 29-year-old Chelsea Berkley, is charged with possession of a firearm, UpNorthLive reported.
Berkley’s charge carries a five-year maximum penalty felony, while Wilson’s charge is a misdemeanor with a maximum prison sentence of one year, according to the outlet.
“It sends a message that parents will be held accountable. We are talking about victims here,” Winstrom said during a press conference.
Two people have been charged into connection to an incident in which a child brought a gun to César E. Chávez Elementary School two weeks ago. https://t.co/vFAYfAPU3y
— FOX 17 (@FOX17) May 16, 2023
Further charges may follow because the weapon was reported stolen, Winstrom said. (RELATED: Schools Ban Backpacks Over Gun Concerns)
“This is a storyline that is repeating itself all over the country and in far too many cases it has resulted in catastrophic and deadly outcomes,” Grand Rapids Public Schools (GRPS) Superintendent Leadriane Roby said, according to UpNorthLive. “We will not sit by and wait for a tragedy like that to happen here.”
GRPS reportedly confiscated another firearm from a third-grade student May 10, the fourth such confiscation of the 2022-23 school year, according to the outlet.