Middletown Toddler Shot Himself With Dad's Gun: DA

MIDDLETOWN, PA — A 2-year-old boy who died from a gunshot wound in Middletown last month accidentally shot himself in the head, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors announced Wednesday that Jorddan M. Thornton, 27, of Philadelphia, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child in the Dec. 2 death of his son, Julius Thornton.

Thornton was watching the boy at Racquet Club Apartments and Townhomes on Veteran Highway when Middletown Township Police were called to the home at 8:49 p.m. According to police, a 911 caller had said Julius had fallen and hurt himself.

But, according to the Bucks County District Attorney's Office, an investigation showed Julius "accessed a loaded firearm and then shot himself in the head."

Thornton, who had already been charged with child endangerment, was sent to Bucks County Correctional Facility under $75,000 bail.

When officers arrived at the apartments, they found Thornton standing outside and holding a young boy with a bleeding head wound. A responding officer believed, due to his military background, that the child was suffering from a gunshot wound, according to a police affidavit.

Thornton told police he had been watching television with his son and fell asleep. He also said the boy had been jumping on a bed and that he may have hit his head on a headboard, according to the affidavit.

Detectives got a search warrant for the apartment and found a loaded Glock handgun on the floor, at the foot of the bed, according to the complaint. The gun, prosecutors said, was registered to Thornton, and detectives also found a dresser near the bed with its bottom drawer open.

Julius was taken to St. Mary Medical Center, where he was declared dead a short time later. Police say a doctor there also said the injury was consistent with a gunshot wound to the head.

Julius would have turned three years old on Christmas Eve.