Man whose gun killed 4 year old boy in Iowa pleads guilty

Flag of Iowa (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — The owner of a gun that a 4-year-old boy used to kill himself in Iowa last year has pleaded guilty in the case.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa says 30-year-old Daniel Henriksen pleaded guilty Friday to a federal count of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of marijuana.

Prosecutors say he had left his .45-calibre handgun in a mobile home where Jayden Choate and two other preschoolers were staying on June 17, 2016.

Police say Jayden found the gun near where he and the other children were napping and accidentally shot himself in the head.

Henriksen faces up to 10 years in prison when he’s sentenced at a later date.