infoWest Virginia man charged after gun goes off; killing niece

West Virginia man charged after gun goes off; killing niece

Andrew Scott Jackson, 36, has been arrested in the killing of his 11-year-old niece.

Jackson told them he was cleaning a gun at a home where he allegedly admitted to negligently discharging the weapon.

\u00e2\u0080\u009cBy the time our deputies had arrived on scene she was beginning to lose consciousness,\u00e2\u0080\u009d said Jackson County Chief Deputy Ross Mellinger.

Court documents say the bullet hit Jackson\u00e2\u0080\u0099s hand then hit his niece in the chest.

Jackson is a convicted felon from an August 2009 drug charge and was not to own or possess a firearm. Jackson reportedly told deputies it wasn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t his gun, but his mother\u00e2\u0080\u0099s, and he regularly cleans it for her.

Deputies say Jackson\u00e2\u0080\u0099s mom then told them that this wasn\u00e2\u0080\u0099t the first time he had negligently discharged the gun. She claims about a month ago Jackson set off the same gun and bullet nearly hit her head. Deputies say she told them she even had powder burns to her face.

Jackson is charged with child neglect resulting in death, two counts of child neglect creating risk of injury and prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Jackson\u00e2\u0080\u0099s bond is set at $150,000 dollars.