Detroit mom charged after daughter, 6, fatally shot with unsecured gun

Kara Berg, The Detroit News on Mar 5, 2026

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DETROIT — A Detroit mother was charged with a felony after her 6-year-old daughter died when she was left with her siblings in a vehicle outside a restaurant with an unsecured handgun, according to prosecutors.

Tonya Johnson, 41, allegedly left her five children, ages 2 to 11 years old, unattended in her car Monday while she was inside a restaurant in the 9700 block of Harper Avenue in Detroit, according to Wayne County prosecutors.

Her 11-year-old son found an unsecured gun in the vehicle and fired it, striking his 6-year-old sister in the head and killing her, according to prosecutors.

“The alleged facts of this case are among the worst child safe storage cases that we have seen. This will affect these children forever. The loss of the life of one of their siblings in a closed compartment of the defendant’s car cannot be unseen,” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.

One of the children went into the store to alert the mother, but it was too late, said Charles Fitzgerald, the first assistant Detroit police chief.

Johnson has been charged with a safe gun storage violation, three counts of second-degree child abuse and four counts of felony firearm.

Mayor Mary Sheffield decried the shooting, calling it "absolutely heartbreaking."

"What makes this even more heartbreaking is that it was completely avoidable. This is the second time in the past few days that a child in our city has been shot with a parent's unsecured gun. By the grace of God, the other injured child will recover," Sheffield said in a statement Monday.

The shooting was one of at least two involving unsecured guns and children in a matter of days in Detroit. Police said a 6-year-old was hurt Sunday morning after finding a gun inside a home in the 8800 block of Artesian.

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