PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Al McNeil, the man accused of shooting a two-year-old boy to death last week, was denied bond during a hearing in Portsmouth Wednesday.
McNeil was named as a suspect in the boy's death a few days after the shooting on Aug. 10.
The day that police officers and medics rushed out to the scene in a townhome on Deep Creek Boulevard, he allegedly gave them conflicting reports of what happened.
Shortly after Portsmouth police say they were searching for McNeil, he turned himself in.
He's facing charges of second degree murder, use of a firearm and shooting in the commission of a felony.
Inside the Portsmouth courtroom, McNeil's long-time partner testified during his bond hearing.
She called McNeil an "honest man" and said they are close friends with the child's family.
McNeil's attorney asked a judge to grant him bond, saying McNeil is not a threat to the community. He called the incident "a tragic event that was an accident."
However, the prosecutor called McNeil a "flight risk," pointing out his conflicting statements with police officers the night of the shooting.
The judge sided with the prosecutor and denied McNeil bond.
In his arrest warrant, police said McNeil told investigators he went to his friend's townhome on Deep Creek Boulevard in Portsmouth to get his hair done.
The warrant said he left his gun on the chair where he sat in the kitchen. McNeil told detectives when he stood up, the gun fell off the chair and onto the floor.
He went on to say the two-year-old boy who was playing on the kitchen floor must have picked up the gun and pulled the trigger.
However, the document also said the child's mother told detectives she bent down to talk to her son when she heard a loud bang, felt something go by her ear, and then noticed her son shot.
She said her son did not touch the gun at all.
Court records said a detective recounts the doctor who examined the boy, saying it would have been difficult for him to be able to physically grab the gun, turn it around and shoot himself.
13News Now reached out to both the prosecutor and the defense attorney after this morning's hearing, but neither chose to give a statement.