PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A judge downgraded the charges for a man accused of shooting and killing a 2-year-old boy last August.
Detectives who testified in a court hearing on Tuesday said Al McNeil told them on the night of the Aug. 10, 2022 shooting, his gun had fallen out of his pocket as he stood up from a chair in the kitchen and discharged, hitting 2-year-old Maize Moon.
Maize died just a few days shy of his third birthday.
Tears overwhelmed testimonies inside a Portsmouth courtroom Wednesday afternoon, as the 2-year-old boy's mother recalled the moments a gun went off inside her home and killed her son.
She told the court she started to make his dinner on an August night when she heard a gunshot. She turned around to see her son fall on her kitchen floor, realizing a bullet hit his head.
That's when she said her friend at the time, McNeil, who had been sitting in the kitchen, jumped up and started cursing and yelling out of fear.
She said she and another woman inside the home applied pressure to the child's head as they called 911 before medics arrived and rushed him to Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, where he died after nurses put him on life support.
Maize's mother said she did not know McNeil had a gun inside the home prior to the shooting.
Detectives who went to the scene that night also testified, saying McNeil admitted to having a 9mm handgun.
They said in initial interviews, McNeil appeared shaken and distraught as he told detectives he didn't fully know how the gun went off. Investigators said he told them he stood up from the chair where he was sitting in the kitchen area when he heard a loud gunshot and then noticed the child fall to the floor.
At another point in the interviews, investigators said McNeil said it was possible the child bumped into him or the chair, making the gun go off.
Detectives said McNeil insisted he never touched the gun.
When the prosecution asked where McNeil got the gun in the first place, detectives said he purchased it from his fiancée.
McNeil's attorney, Warren Kozak, said he felt pleased with the judge's decision, but it doesn't take any pain away from this tragic situation
"Based on facts and circumstances and of course, no evidence from us, [the judge] reached the appropriate conclusion today," said Kozak. "It's a terrible loss of life. He has no criminal history, nice working guy. It was just a horrible accident."
Following the testimony, McNeil's second-degree murder charge was downgraded to involuntary manslaughter, with the judge saying she did not see any malicious intent. A charge of "use of a firearm in the commission of a felony" was also dismissed.
Maize's family did not want to speak with 13News Now as they processed the emotional day in court. One family member said, "We just love Maize," as they walked away.