Mom gets 10 years in accidental shooting of 5-year-old son

HARTVILLE, Mo. – A Missouri woman has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in the accidental shooting of her 5-year-old son after he and his 7- and 3-year-old siblings were left home alone with two loaded guns out in the open.

Bobbie Jo Scott, of Hartville, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in the shooting of Timothy Deatherage.

Prosecutors say Scott and her boyfriend, Cory Gass, asked a neighbour to check on Timothy and his siblings in July while they went to pick up a paycheque.

The children were left alone with a loaded 12-guage shotgun and a .22-calibre rifle.

Wright Co. Sheriff Glenn Adler says the 7-year-old was handling the shotgun when it went off.

Gass is set to appear in court Jan. 25.