11-Year-Old Boy Charged In 3-Year-Old's Shooting Death Appears In Court

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - An 11-year-old Detroit boy has made first court appearance since being charged in the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old boy.

The boy is charged in Juvenile Court with manslaughter – death by weapon aimed with intent but without malice, as well as using a firearm during a felony.

At a hearing Monday morning, the boy's attorney requested a competency hearing to determine whether the boy could understand the manslaughter charge filed again him.

The attorney also requested an independent psychological examination.

Both requests were granted by Judge Frank Szymanski, who made a public appeal urging people to lock up their guns.

"This has happened before. I pray it won't happen again," Szymanski said. "Kids find guns. It's their nature. A gun can be a magnet to kids."

The shooting happened outside a home on Eastwood Street near Kelly Road on Aug. 3 after police say the older boy took a handgun from a closet at his father's home and tossed it from a window into the yard. Police say he retrieved the gun and fired it, striking the 3-year-old in the face.

The older boy's mother, Kiwani Lucci, says "it was an accident" and they're sorry for what happened.

Outside the courtroom, she told WWJ's Charlie Langton she doesn't want her son, who is out on bond, to have contact with his father.

"I don't want him talking to his dad at all," Lucci said. "I don't want to talk to him at all; no phone calls or nothing."

The Associated Press and WWJ are not naming the boy due to his age.

He will be back in court on Sept. 9.

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