PINE CITY, Minn. — A Hinckley man is charged with manslaughter and a host of additional charges after his 3-year-old son fatally shot himself with a loaded gun.
Court documents filed in Pine County lay out the allegations against 26-year-old Roy Dean Pauza-Moore in his son's death, which occurred in the family home on Aug. 8. Charges include second-degree manslaughter, child endangerment and negligent storage of firearms.
Pine County sheriff's squads were dispatched to a home on the 500 block of 1st St. SW just after 9 p.m. that day on a report of a 3-year-old child who had shot himself in the head. A sergeant arrived at the home and was met by a man later identified as Pauza-Moore, who told him the child was upstairs inside a bedroom. That sergeant ran inside the home and into the bedroom, where he met Pauza-Moore's roommate who said, "He's gone."
The boy was pronounced dead at 9:26 p.m. The criminal complaint says a 9mm SIG Sauer handgun was located in the bedroom with the child. An autopsy later ruled he died of a gunshot wound to the head.
During interviews, the defendant reportedly told investigators that he was downstairs playing video games on the main floor of the home while his son was watching videos on his cell phone upstairs in his father's room. At one point he told police he and his roommate heard a thump, followed by a gunshot. Pauza-Moore said the two ran upstairs and found the child laying between the bed and the north wall of the room bleeding, with the handgun on the floor next to him.
Investigators say Pauza-Moore admitted the 9mm was loaded and sitting on top of an unlocked gun safe while the child watched a show on the cell phone.
In addition to the loaded 9mm semi-automatic handgun, law enforcement reports finding two additional firearms in Pauza-Moore's bedroom inside a closet. One was an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle that was unloaded, while the second was a loaded 12 gauge pump shotgun that had a round in the chamber. The closet was unlocked and open, with the firearms at floor level, according to court documents.
Three handguns and two rifles were located in the roommate's bedroom.
Sheriff's investigators also spoke with the defendant's wife, who moved out of the home in June when she and Pauza-Moore decided to separate. She reportedly said there was a gun safe in the home but the defendant "never used it," adding that she told him his guns needed to be locked up and out of reach of the children.
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