Gun owner takes plea deal in child’s shooting of dog

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CARTHAGE, Mo. (AP) A 27-year-old man pleaded guilty to a reduced charge in a case involving a 5-year-old shooting a dog with a handgun.

The Joplin Globe reports Daniel Byrd, of Carthage, pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count of child endangerment. He originally was charged with felony child endangerment. Byrd was given a suspended one-year prison sentence and will be on unsupervised probation for two years.

A probable cause statement said Carthage police were called on May 29 after the boy shot a pet dog with a handgun he found on a bedside table in Byrd’s bedroom. His bedroom was next to the children’s bedroom and had a door knob that couldn’t be fully latched.

The dog survived the shooting.

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