Sacto 9-1-1: Weapon in fatal Nevada County hunting accident to be tested

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Sacto 9-1-1

The Sacramento Bee's Crime blog is a comprehensive report of crime news, trends and information for your community and beyond.

November 4, 2009

Weapon in fatal Nevada County hunting accident to be tested

From Bill Lindelof:

The rifle that discharged and killed a 12-year-old boy in a weekend Nevada County hunting accident has been sent to a lab for testing.

"There is no indication that this is anything other than a tragic accident," said Detective Sgt. Steve Tripp with the Nevada County Sheriff's Department.

Hayden McCleran died Saturday when he apparently accidentally shot himself during a hunting accident off North Bloomfield Road near Lake City Road in the woods on the outskirts of Nevada City.

The boy had been hunting with family members when his rifle fired, hitting him in the chest. He was separated from his fellow hunters when the weapon discharged.

The boy was in a stationary position, perhaps 200 feet from other hunters and out of sight, Tripp said.

Following standard procedure, detectives sent the rifle to the state Department of Justice firearms laboratory. It will be checked for possible malfunctions as experts "try to determine how this thing could have accidentally fired," Tripp said.

The boy had taken hunter safety classes, and "the family did everything they possibly could to be safety conscious," Tripp said.

Tripp said that since the boy was unseen when the gun went off, "We may never know what happened."

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Q: What happened to the man and woman who forced a little boy they were taking care of to box with other kids, eventually killing the boy?

A: On Oct. 20, 2006, Renecha Marina Gulley, then 24, and Earl Joseph Christopher, then 26, were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison over the beating death of their 3-year-old godson, The Bee reported.

A jury convicted the pair of the murder of Christopher David Thomas, who died July 19, 2004 of severe head injuries sustained in what the prosecutor described as a week of physical and emotional abuse.

In opening remarks to the jury, Deputy District Attorney Robin Shakely said the boy was forced to box with his 5-year-old brother as "spectator sport" for Christopher and Gulley. The boxing matches and other acts of violence in the Rancho Cordova apartment were for the amusement of the godparents who were taking care of the boy for the parents, trial evidence showed.

The boy, who died of bleeding in the brain, also had several bruises on his chest, hip, knees, shins, hands and legs. He had a bruise on his buttocks in the shape of a hand, the evidence showed.

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