Mother’s boyfriend charged after 4-year-old boy shot himself was out on bond for a previous case, records show

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A man faces two charges in connection with Monday’s shooting, in which a 4-year-old boy found a gun and shot himself, according to records.

Nicholas Zepeda-Quintanilla has been charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, as well as injury to a child, records state.

The shooting happened at about 12:45 p.m. inside an apartment at 10700 Fuqua in southeast Houston, police said.

The injury to a child charge adds that on Monday, Zepeda-Quintanilla brought “a loaded firearm that was not secured with a trigger lock into the residence of the child and (placed) it on a shelf.”

In court records, investigators allege that the suspect bought the gun as a gift to his girlfriend, who is the little boy’s mother. The records indicate the couple placed the gun in the closet, then fell asleep. They woke up to a noise and found the four-year-old shot in the head.

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Authorities told ABC13 the 4-year-old boy was still alive but was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital for treatment.

According to charging documents, Zepeda-Quintanilla possessed a firearm despite “having been convicted of the felony offense of assault on a security officer,” in a 2020 case. In that case, he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Zepeda-Quintanilla appeared in probable cause court on Tuesday, where additional details revealed he was out on bond for evading in a motor vehicle.

Records show that Zepeda-Quintanilla is still in the Harris County Jail.

The other child in the apartment at the time of the shooting, a toddler girl, was not hurt. She is with her grandmother, officials said.