An Indiana mother has been sentenced to six years after her 2-year-old son found a handgun inside her purse and suffered a fatal gunshot wound while sitting in a car with his older sister.
Keiara Bickett, 29, was sentenced Sept. 15 in Marion County Superior Court after pleading guilty to reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, according to court records and local reporting. Judge Angela D. Davis ordered Bickett to serve three years in a state correctional facility, followed by three years in community corrections and home detention.
As part of the plea agreement, prosecutors dismissed a more serious charge of neglect of a dependent resulting in death.
The case stems from the June 19, 2025, death of Bickett’s son, Javarius Bickett, in the parking lot of a CVS on East 46th Street in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers were called to the pharmacy around 3 p.m. and found the toddler suffering from a gunshot wound outside a vehicle. Javarius was rushed to Riley Hospital in critical condition but later died. Police initially described the shooting as likely accidental.
Investigators later said Javarius had been inside the vehicle with his mother and older sister when he gained access to a 9mm Glock Model 26 Gen 5 kept inside Bickett’s purse.
According to court documents cited by local reports, Bickett told investigators that she had driven to CVS to pick up a prescription and discovered the drive-thru was closed. She said she stopped and began texting a friend before realizing Javarius was no longer secured in his car seat.
Bickett told police she was looking at her phone while attempting to park when she heard the gunshot.
Investigators said the child had apparently reached into Bickett’s unzipped purse and removed the handgun. His older sister, who was 8 at the time, was sitting in the front of the vehicle and witnessed the shooting.
Police recovered the Glock from the driver’s-side floorboard along with a fired cartridge and a loaded magazine, according to reports based on the probable cause affidavit.
Bickett told investigators she generally carried the handgun in her purse when away from home and normally kept the purse zipped.
The tragedy later became the focus of a criminal investigation.
The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office initially charged Bickett with neglect of a dependent resulting in death. Prosecutor Ryan Mears said after charges were filed that secure firearm storage can have life-or-death consequences when children are present.
“Safe storage and responsible gun owners are not optional,” Mears said in a statement released by his office following the case.
Bickett’s family has maintained that the shooting was a devastating accident.
Her mother, Melissa Etheridge, told WTHR that Bickett loved her children and never intended for anyone to be hurt. She acknowledged that the firearm may not have been stored safely enough but argued that her daughter should not be treated as though she deliberately harmed her son.
The case also affected Bickett’s relationship with her surviving daughter.
During an earlier court appearance, a judge issued a no-contact order involving the girl, who was placed in her grandmother’s care while the case proceeded. Reports from the time said Bickett became emotional in court when the restriction was announced.
At sentencing, prosecutors and the defense presented sharply different recommendations.
Prosecutors reportedly sought a sentence of up to 12 years, including 10 years behind bars and two years of probation. Bickett’s attorneys asked the court to avoid prison or allow her to serve her sentence through community corrections.
Judge Davis ultimately imposed six years, split evenly between prison and community corrections or home detention.
Bickett was visibly pregnant during the sentencing hearing and was reportedly due to give birth in November.
The plea agreement brings the criminal case to a close without a trial, more than a year after a routine trip to a pharmacy ended in the death of a 2-year-old boy.
For additional context, Indianapolis police said from the beginning that the shooting appeared accidental, but the later criminal case focused on how the loaded firearm was stored and whether Bickett’s conduct amounted to criminal recklessness and neglect.
