An Alabama woman is facing serious charges after a heartbreaking incident in which one of her young children found a loaded handgun and fatally shot a 2-year-old boy, authorities say.
Evelyn Etress, 40, has been charged with manslaughter, aggravated child abuse, and drug offenses following the death of her son, Noah. The shooting happened Wednesday morning at the family’s home in Hayden, a small town about 30 miles northeast of Birmingham.
According to Blount County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were called to a home on Orchard Circle around 10 a.m. after reports of a shooting. When officers arrived, they found Noah suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Paramedics rushed him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Sheriff Mark Moon said investigators determined that Etress was inside the home at the time of the shooting. Several children were playing in the master bedroom while she was elsewhere in the house. She reportedly heard a loud bang and ran to the room, where she found Noah injured and a .380-caliber handgun inside a closet. Authorities said three children were inside that closet when the shot was fired.
Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey said there were six children in the home at the time: two 4-year-old girls, an 8-year-old girl, a 9-year-old girl, a 13-year-old boy, and Noah. Etress was the only adult present.
Prosecutors have not said which child pulled the trigger, but Casey made clear that the wound was not self-inflicted. She said the bullet traveled through the toddler’s skull, through a wall, struck the ceiling, and then landed on a couch. No other children were injured.
Investigators also allegedly found at least four firearms in the home that were easily accessible to the children.
Casey used the case to issue a stark warning about gun safety around kids.
“They’re children,” she said. “A firearm is not a toy, and it’s not a teaching moment for a toddler. In this case, that lesson came too late.”
She added that young children often cannot distinguish between toy guns and real weapons, especially in homes where toy guns are common.
“When a gun is left out, a child doesn’t see danger,” Casey said. “They see something familiar. And a misunderstanding can turn into tragedy in seconds.”
Etress has since posted a $90,000 bond as the case moves forward through the courts.


You must practice safety when you have a gun and kids