Relatives: Toddler who fatally shot father has asked for him

ST. LOUIS – Relatives say a St. Louis toddler who killed his sleeping father while playing with a gun has been asking “for his daddy.”

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that police say the 2-year-old accidently shot 27-year-old Darrion Noble in the neck Saturday afternoon. No other adults were home. Three children — a 13-year-old, along with Noble’s 10-year-old and 5-year-old daughters — ran for help. Noble died at the scene.

His cousin, Stephanie Smith, says the toddler asked for Noble when he wasn’t around to put the boy in the bathtub as he used to. Smith’s says the boy looked to his mother and she “broke down.”

Police say the shooting “appears noncriminal.” Officers haven’t confirmed who owned the gun or how it was stored. Relatives said the gun belonged to Noble.