TYLER, Texas — Arrest documents say a man was playing with a gun when a bullet shot out, hit the floor and then struck a 3-year-old child at a Tyler apartment complex Wednesday morning.
Darius Jubarne Davis, 30, is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the shooting of a 3-year-old girl just after 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Liberty Arms Apartments, located at 2601 N. Broadway Ave., police said.
After initially going to a Tyler hospital, the child was later transported to Dallas Children's Hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, Tyler Police Department spokesperson Andy Erbaugh said.
According to an arrest affidavit, the girl's mother told police Davis was playing with a gun in her apartment while she was just outside the door talking to a neighbor. She said Davis had pointed the gun toward the floor. He then shot the gun into the floor and the bullet ricocheted, striking the girl.
The mother said she yelled at Davis to get out of her apartment and she called 911. Police officers and ambulances arrived, and she told officers this was only the second time he had been in her apartment, the affidavit read. She agreed with police that charges should be filed against Davis.
Davis was found by police officers on 26th Street across the street from the apartment complex, police said.
When he was taken to the police station, officers said he was "very intoxicated" and wouldn't be able to talk to detectives. During his arrest, police found Davis had illegal narcotics, fentanyl and two firearms. While getting searched by police, Davis made statements saying the shooting was because of a ricochet and the floor would show that, the affidavit stated.
Davis is also charged with possession of marijuana, manufacture of a controlled substance and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, according to jail records.
He remains in the Smith County Jail on bonds totaling $1 million.
No other injuries were reported. The case remains under investigation, according to police.