ASHLAND ((UPDATED at 5:30 p.m.) — A Hayesville woman faces child endangering charges after she left her two young children home alone Saturday and her son shot her daughter, according to Ashland County authorities.
Alyssa Mae Edwards, 27, was charged in Ashland County Common Pleas court Monday with a third-degree felony charge of child endangering and one misdemeanor charge of child endangering.Â
Neither Edwards nor any supervising adult was home when Edwards’ 8-year-old son shot her 4-year-old daughter multiple times with a small-caliber firearm, according to Ashland County Sheriff chief deputy Carl Richert.
Edwards appeared before Ashland County Common Pleas magistrate Paul Lange via Skype video conference Monday. Lange appointed Donald Wick to represent the defendant and set bond at $30,000.
He also ordered that Edwards have no contact with either of her children while the case is pending.Â
Prosecutor Chris Tunnell told the judge the investigation reveals Edwards left for work shortly before 8 a.m. Saturday, leaving the children home alone. Edwards told the judge earlier in the hearing that she works at Topline Arabians, a horse training facility on Ohio 60.Â
“While home alone, the 8-year-old shot the 4-year-old three to four times with a 22 caliber rifle,” Tunnell said.
Tunnell said the rifle was stored in a gun cabinet with some other firearms. It is unclear from the investigation whether the cabinet was locked, Tunnell said, but the 8-year-old did have the means to open the cabinet and was familiar with the firearm.
“The ammunition was stored separate from the gun,” Tunnell said. “It appears the 8-year-old was able to load the magazine and chamber the first round.”
Tunnell said after Edwards was contacted at work around 10 a.m., she came home, cleaned up a bedcover with blood on it, examined the 4-year-old and then went back to work. She left the children home alone again until about noon. Sometime between noon and 2 p.m., Tunnell said, after the four-year-old began to urinate through a bullet hole in her abdomen, Edwards took the girl to the hospital.Â
Edwards’ next common pleas court appearance will be at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, again via video conference. Edwards also has a related case pending in juvenile court involving custody.Â
Edwards brought the girl to University Hospitals Samaritan Hospital for treatment and did not call 9-1-1, according to Richert. Hospital staff notified the sheriff’s office around 2 p.m. Saturday.Â
The most serious of the wounds was a gunshot to the lower abdomen, Richert said.Â
The girl is being treated at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital in Cleveland. She is in stable condition and is expected to recover fully, Richert said.Â
Edwards had sole custody of the two children, and the pair are now in the care of Ashland County Children Services, according to Richert.Â
Edwards is being held at the Ashland County Jail.
