Christopher Starks-Vaulx, 29, allegedly admitted to police that he left his loaded handgun in his car Friday while his two older children were alone in the car. His son, 6, shot his 3-year-old daughter in the hand.
Starks-Vaulx, of Gary, is charged with four counts of neglect of a dependent, all felonies, and misdemeanor carrying a handgun without a license, court records show. He is in custody at Lake County Jail.
At his initial hearing in Lake Superior Court on Wednesday, his bail was set at $45,000. Prior to that, he was being held without bail. His next court date is Monday, when his formal appearance is scheduled.
He was picking up his children after working in Hammond, starting with his son, who was at school. His daughter and 9-month-old twins were at a day care center in the 1000 block of Tyler Street, where he parked in the alley and first brought the little girl to the car, the probable cause affidavit states.
Police said he did not have any child restraint seats for any of the four children.
Starks-Vaulx left the two oldest in the back seat, and the gun, a Glock .40-caliber semiautomatic, in the console between the front seats, court records state. Glock semiautomatic handguns do not have an external safety lever, but have a device that prevents the weapons from discharging if dropped. It is designed to fire only when the trigger is pulled.
Starks-Vaulx told Detective Cpl. Edward Gonzalez he was carrying the twin infants when he heard screaming and saw his daughter’s hand was bleeding. He took the babies back to the day care and drove his daughter to the Methodist Hospitals Northlake campus, the affidavit states.
His daughter told police her brother shot her, the affidavit states.
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The girl was released from the hospital and is expected to recover fully, police said.