Saint Louis Woman Gets Probation For Child's Shooting Death

ST. LOUIS, MO — Ebony Jones, a 29-year-old St. Louis woman, pleaded guilty Monday to three counts of child endangerment and was sentenced to probation in the death of 6-year-old Mi'Kenzie Bostic. The girl died in 2017 when a sibling got hold of a gun and shot her. A judge dismissed a charge of involuntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal.

Jones' sentence will also include mandatory parenting classes.

The Post-Dispatch reported last year that Mi'Kenzie was fatally shot shortly before 1:30 a.m. on the day before Valentine's Day. Her mother was sleeping at the time. When officers arrived, they found the girl with a gunshot wound to the head. She died at the scene.

Jones' other children were 3, 4, and 9 years old at the time of the shooting. Police believed the 9-year-old is the one who fired the gun.

The woman's boyfriend was also charged, but he was fatally shot himself later that same year, police said, after an argument about a dice game.

More than 30,000 Americans are killed by guns every year and twice that number are injured, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 13,000 are murdered. The rest take their own lives or are victims of shooting accidents. Almost half are children or young adults.

Read more from the Post-Dispatch.

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