Minnesota parents charged after child fatally shot by sibling with one of many guns in home

Two parents in far northern Minnesota are charged after one of their young sons fatally shot his brother with a rifle that was among more than two dozen loaded guns in the home.

Theodore Charles Stewart, 42, and Danielle Elizabeth Stewart, 39, both of Roosevelt, near Warroad, are scheduled to make their first appearances Monday in Roseau County District Court on a gross-misdemeanor charge of negligent storage of firearms in connection with the Sept. 4 death of their 8-year-old son, McGregor.

The Stewarts were each charged by summons. The Minnesota Star Tribune has reached out to their attorneys for a response to the allegations.

According to the criminal complaints:

First responders were sent to the home in the 28400 block of 695th Avenue and saw that McGregor had been shot in the neck. He and his mother were taken by emergency medical personnel to a hospital. The boy died that day.

Remaining in the home were Theodore Stewart and their four other children, ages 10 to 14, at the time of the shooting.

One of the children spoke to an officer, with Theodore Stewart’s permission, and explained how the shooting occurred.

Theodore Stewart said he had just left for work, and the children were all inside, while their mother was walking outside the home at the time.

Officers recovered 14 rifles and pistols in the parents’ bedroom, “many of which were loaded,” the complaints read. Another 13 guns were collected from a closet adjoining the bedroom. Seven more were found in a closet near the front door.

“All but one was unsecured and in areas of the home easily accessible to the children,” the charges noted.