Gun Charge Over Woman's Stupid Pet Trick
Teen shot pal while using laser sight to play with cat
AUGUST 13--While using the laser sight on a friend’s 9mm handgun to play with a cat, a Wisconsin woman accidentally shot the weapon’s owner in the leg, according to police.
As detailed in a criminal complaint, Jashanti Pleasant, 19, was inside a friend’s Kenosha apartment Tuesday afternoon when she removed the handgun from a nightstand drawer. The gun had been placed there by James Daniels, 21.
Investigators say that Pleasant--who had been drinking brandy, according to a witness--picked up the Smith & Wesson gun and “turned on the laser sight and was pointing it at the floor to get a cat to chase it.”
While playing with the firearm, Pleasant discharged the weapon, striking Daniels in the right thigh. Daniels, who was standing in a doorway when hit, stood “in shock for a second and then he asked Ms. Pleasant if she had shot him,” according to the witness quoted in the complaint.
The bullet traveled through Daniels’s leg and struck the stove. During police questioning, Daniels reportedly admitted bringing the gun to the residence, but claimed he had removed the magazine. Pleasant told cops that she thought the 9mm’s magazine had been removed before the gun “accidentally went off.”
Pleasant was arrested for causing injury by the negligent use of a weapon. Free on bond, she is scheduled for an August 25 preliminary hearing on the felony charge. As part of Pleasant’s release conditions, a judge has ordered her to have no contact with Daniels and “No weapons--especially Firearms,” according to court records.
Daniels, who is also facing a felony gun charge, has been free on bond in a pending criminal case that bars him from possessing a weapon. Daniels was arrested last year on multiple felony counts for his role in a gang-related shooting. Investigators allege that Daniels, behind the wheel of a borrowed Jeep, drove friends to a Kenosha home that was then sprayed with a volley of gunfire by his cronies.
Daniels was treated for the gunshot wound at a Kenosha hospital. After Pleasant apologized for shooting him, she told police, Daniels “told her it was ok,” the complaint states. (3 pages)
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