Mother Of 5-Year-Old Gunshot Victim Charged With Neglect

MIAMI, FL — The mother of the five-year-old Miami girl who was shot in her apartment early Tuesday morning has been charged with child neglect and other offenses hours after police charged her boyfriend in connection with the shooting. The child was found in Tralliney Shondrea Coleman's arms suffering from an apparent gunshot wound when police arrived at their Miami apartment complex. The child was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in stable condition.

The 43-year-old Coleman was also charged with drug trafficking, providing false information to law enforcement officers and a weapons violation. Court documents described squalid living conditions in the apartment for Coleman's three children, including a "severe" infestation of roaches.

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"The living conditions of the home are deplorable and can lead to direct health hazards for all the occupants," police wrote in arrest documents. "The narcotics and firearms located increase the risk of great bodily injury and death to the children."

Police on Tuesday night arrested Coleman's boyfriend, 41-year-old Jonathan Craig, in connection with the shooting. He was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, child abuse and other offenses, according to the Miami Police Department. The apartment complex is located at NW 12 Avenue and NW 66 Street.

Arrest documents said that Craig lived with Coleman and her children in the apartment. Prior to the shooting, police said Craig feared there were armed men outside the apartment.

"I just pray and thank God for her being all right," the child's grandmother told reporters outside the hospital where her granddaughter was recovering on Tuesday. Police said the child was struck on the left side of her back but the bullet passed through her stomach.

"The family isn't alright now but we're surviving," said the little girl's older sister.

Officer Kiara Delva of the Miami Police Department told Patch that investigators discovered a bullet hole in a window at the child's apartment. She said that a Miami police officer was flagged down following the shooting, which occurred shortly before 3 a.m.

In addition to the other charges, Craig was also charged with illegal drug trafficking and a weapons violation. Police said they found 11 grams of suspected heroin and a black BERSA .380 caliber handgun in the apartment.

When confronted about the suspected heroin, Coleman allegedly told police she and her boyfriend both use narcotics and that her boyfriend sold drugs from the home.

Coleman allegedly also told police that she had no idea how her daughter was shot or who was responsible for the shooting, according to arrest documents.

"The defendant willingly provided information that was misleading to detectives regarding an attempted murder subject," arrest documents charged.

Photo of Tralliney Shondrea Coleman courtesy Miami-Dade Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation