Judge Wants Competency Evaluation For Detroit Teen In Fatal Snow Day Shooting

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - A judge has ordered that a 13-year-old boy charged in the accidental shooting death of a 13-year-old acquaintance in Detroit be referred for a competency evaluation.

The prosecutor's office says a pre-trial hearing was held Friday for the teen. He is charged as a juvenile with manslaughter – death by weapon aimed with intent but without malice, felony firearm, and careless discharge of a firearm causing injury or death.

His 58-year-old grandmother, Lise Cox,  is charged with involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second-degree child abuse, and felony firearm.

Emarjae "EJ" Watkins was out of school Monday because of a snow day when he was shot in the back at Cox's home in the 4300 block of Tireman, near I-96 on the city's west side.

Authorities have said Cox was at work, leaving her two grandsons at home unsupervised with their two friends. Prosecutors say she failed to properly store her gun and was aware that her grandsons knew where to find it.

After Cox had left for work, her grandson allegedly broke into her locked bedroom and found her handgun and the ammunition.

"The firearm was hidden and unloaded in a locked bedroom," Detroit Police Officer Jennifer Moreno told WWJ's Laura Bonnell. "The 13-year-old sought out the firearm. … The grandmother didn't properly secure it. "

It is alleged that while the 13-year-old was playing with the gun, it discharged and struck Watkins. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounce dead on arrival.

Cox is due back in district court on Thursday for a probable cause hearing.

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