A Chicago felon has been charged after the apparent accidental shooting death of a 5-year-old boy in his family's St. Cloud home.
Charges implicate Chicago felon in 'accidental' shooting death of 5-year-old St. Cloud boy
Negligent storage of a firearm is among the charges in connection with the shooting last week.
November 17, 2020 at 8:54PM
Roberto A. Williams, 35, was charged Monday in Stearns County District Court with being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a stolen firearm and negligently storing a firearm in connection with the death last week.
Williams was arrested Friday night and remains jailed in lieu of $250,000 bail ahead of a Dec. 18 court appearance. A message was left Tuesday with his attorney seeking a response to the allegations.
The boy's identity has yet to be released, and police have yet to disclose who fired the fatal shot other than to say it "appears to be accidental."
According to the criminal complaint:
Surveillance video outside the home showed Williams putting a backpack in a garbage bin, then covering it up with a bag of trash.
Law enforcement recovered two backpacks from the bin. They contained a folding rifle, a 9-millimeter handgun, an eighth of an ounce of cocaine, 69 ecstasy pills and synthetic marijuana. A search inside the home turned up a smaller amount of cocaine and five ecstasy pills in a bedroom.
A witness said the boy was found dead an alone in a bedroom and with the 9-millimeter handgun, which was reported stolen on Oct. 29.
Williams and the boy's mother came home, and Williams allegedly picked up the gun and took it outside.
Williams also is charged in neighboring Benton County in connection with a suspected drug-related robbery in St. Cloud on July 31. His criminal history in Illinois includes convictions for robbery and numerous weapons-related offenses.
Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482
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