The parents of a 13-year-old Pennsylvania boy jailed for allegedly shooting his younger brother to death have also been jailed, charged with felony child endangerment.
Mark Snyder and Stacey Renee Wright-Snyder were arraigned Friday in Waynesboro, CBS 21 News reports. Snyder is being held on $100,000 bail, while Wright-Snyder’s bail was set at $75,000.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 13-year-old Brayden Wright has been charged with first degree murder and and second degree aggravated assault as an adult in the death of his brother last week.
Wright reportedly told police that he shot his brother because the younger boy (pictured) was watching videos on a cell phone instead of “complying with his commands while playing cops and robbers.”
“Wright further related he pressed the muzzle of the gun to the back left side of the victim’s head and squeezed the trigger,” his arrest affidavit said.
The teen took one of his father’s weapons — which he knew were loaded — out of an unlocked compartment in the living room sofa to use in the shooting, the affidavit said. Mark Snyder reportedly told police he kept two loaded 9 mm guns in the compartment.
CBS 21 reported that Pennsylvania State Police said that Snyder and Wright-Snyder knowingly left their five children — ranging from 7 to 13 years old — unsupervised with the unsecured and loaded weapons in the house.
According to Wright’s arrest affidavit, the teen allegedly told police he had “some knowledge” about handling guns and confessed to handling his father’s weapons when his parents weren’t home.
The affidavit said Wright initially called 911 and reported that his brother had fallen. Paramedics who responded to the residence found the boy bleeding from his head and in cardiac arrest. They took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead and investigators discovered a contact gunshot wound behind his left ear — meaning the muzzle of the gun was touching his head when it was fired.
Wright put the weapon back into the sofa compartment after the shooting, the affidavit said.
Further, CBS 21 reported, living conditions at the home were “so deplorable” that the house was condemned by the borough of Waynesboro.
Snyder and Wright-Snyder are being held at the Franklin County Jail. Wright was initially held there as well but has been moved to a juvenile facility, Patriot News reported.
The parents are expected in court on July 27 for preliminary hearings.
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[Featured image: Shooting victim (unnamed)/GoFundMe]
