Tacoma, WA man pleads not guilty in toddler shooting

TACOMA, Wash. - A suspect accused in the shooting of a 2-year-old boy during a housewarming party pleaded not guilty Tuesday in Pierce County Superior Court.

Twenty-five-year-old Avery Lucas McDaniel is charged with first-degree assault and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.

The backstory:

According to prosecutors, McDaniel and a second masked suspect approached a housewarming party at the Village at SOTA Apartments in Tacoma on March 31. Prosecutors allege the second suspect fired a shot through the wall of an apartment, striking a 2-year-old boy in the center of the chest.

The bullet broke the child’s rib and punctured his lung. Despite the severity of his injuries, the boy survived.

McDaniel turned himself in on Monday, four days after Crime Stoppers of Tacoma-Pierce County released a wanted bulletin seeking his arrest. A judge ordered him held on $150,000 bail.

Dig deeper:

Prosecutors say the alleged gunman, 20-year-old Keegan Bellotti, fired the shot while attempting to hit someone in the apartment with whom he was involved in an ongoing dispute.

Tacoma police arrested Bellotti on April 1. He remains in the Pierce County Jail on $200,000 bail while the case proceeds.

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