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Mother of Lafayette 3-year-old who shot murder suspect charged with neglect

Trayshaun Smith, 23, of Lafayette, was also arrested on a murder warrant out of Cook County, Illinois.

LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The mother of a 3-year-old who shot a murder suspect at a Lafayette apartment is charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent.

Jalynn Artis is also charged with possession of marijuana. 

On May 18, 2023, Lafayette officers were called to the hospital for two people shot.

They learned the shooting actually happened at an apartment in the 3000 block of Mount Court, near U.S. 231 and Teal Road.

Police said they learned a 3-year-old had gotten ahold of a gun and fired a shot that hit their mom and a wanted man.

Police arrested 23-year-old Trayshaun Smith, of Lafayette, on a murder warrant out of Cook County, Illinois. 

Credit: WTHR/Scott Allen
Lafayette police said a 3-year-old got ahold of a gun and fired a shot that hit two people Thursday, May 18, 2023 around 8:30 p.m. in the 3000 block of Mount Court, near U.S. 231 and Teal Road.

According to court documents, Artis said she had put her infant to bed upstairs and came back down to where Smith was playing a video game. Artis told investigators she then heard a gunshot and, when she went to check on her children, realized she had been shot in the foot. She allegedly told investigators she never saw her 3-year-old with the gun. 

A person who drove Artis and Smith to the hospital told investigators Artis told them she and Smith were upstairs in the bedroom at the time of the shooting. According to court documents, Smith told the witness the 3-year-old was playing on the floor and pulled a gun from under the dresser and accidentally fired it. 

When police questioned Smith, he allegedly told them he was shot outside of the apartment and got a ride with a stranger to the hospital, according to the documents. 

Investigators said they found blood in an upstairs bedroom, blood on a bed and on a bullet under the bed. They also claim to have found a half-pound of marijuana. 

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