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Eian Santiago, 3 was accidentally shot in the face by his six-year-old brother, who had grabbed a gun he found on top of the fridge.
The two children were playing at their father's home in Chicago when the older child grabbed the loaded handgun from the top of a fridge, and shot the toddler in the face during a game of “cops and robbers,” police said.
Eian was immediately taken to hospital after the accident on Saturday evening, but died later that night.
His father, Michael Santiago, has been arrested for child endangerment – and told police he had bought the weapon for protection as he was a former gang member who had "snitched" on someone during a murder trial.
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“The victim was carried by a family member to Norwegian hospital and subsequently transported to Mt. Sinai hospital where he was pronounced [dead],” police said in a statement.
Writing on Facebook, Santiago’s wife, Angie Lasalle, defended her husband: “My husband is a great husband…[and] father,” she wrote. “It was an accident. Please, no one wanted to this to happen.”
Santiago wrote on Facebook that he “can’t believe [his] baby is gone.”
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He shared a link to a GoFundMe page set up to help cover the cost of the child’s funeral.
“Tonight is a night that will haunt us for the rest of our [lives],” the page reads.
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