A Nebraska mother was arrested and charged three weeks after her 6-year-old daughter found a loaded gun under a mattress and fatally shot herself.
Yolonda Barfield, 33, was charged with one count of child abuse by neglect and one count of child abuse by intent in the death of young Alonni Barfield.
On Dec. 15, Omaha Police officers responded to the family home after Alonn’s 15-year-old brother found her bleeding from the nose, mouth, and arm in their mother’s bedroom.
The girl succumbed to her injuries shortly later. Her mother told detectives she kept the gun under the mattress to protect herself from her violent ex-boyfriend.
“The children stated they knew about the firearm, where it was located, and that it was always loaded, one bullet in the chamber,” police said.
Barfield’s attorney told the court that the mother wanted to protect herself and her children from the abusive man who frequently attacked them.
“She was scared that if he jumped and broke into her house that she wouldn’t have time to get it to protect herself and her children,” he said.
“You have a woman who is reaching out to the police, continually asking for this person who’s threatened her life and her children’s lives, and specifically her older son at high school, and no arrests were made. Nothing was done.”
