GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — An infant girl was killed in late 2021 in Granite Falls after her father's gun fell off a coffee table and went off, court documents say.
The parents of the deceased 1-year-old, Arabella Watts and Jesse Kitson, were charged in January with first-degree manslaughter and unsafe storage of a firearm in the first degree. Watts is also charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, as she had a previous felony conviction barring her from possessing a firearm.
According to court documents, Kitson placed his loaded and holstered .45 caliber revolver on the coffee table in front of his sofa, where his 1-year-old daughter and Watts were sitting. At some point, the gun fell off the coffee table and fired after hitting the ground. The bullet traveled through the holster and hit the child.
Watts called 911, and first responders attempted resuscitation for about 10 minutes before declaring the child dead, according to court documents. Police said Watts had been on her phone exchanging Facebook and text messages in the minutes leading up to her daughter's death. Neither parent told police they saw the gun fall off the coffee table, only that they heard it go off.
Law enforcement learned during the investigation that Kitson had purchased the gun in June 2020 and also purchased a conversion cylinder that would allow for the use of .45 caliber ammo to be used in the revolver. According to the court documents, the conversion cylinder came with a safety manual that said the gun could fire if dropped or if the hammer of the gun was struck while on a live cartridge.
In court documents, Watts said she often fought with Kitson over his lax safety procedures with weapons, saying at one point, "I knew that this could happen."
Despite Watts knowing her previous felony conviction would make it illegal for her to possess a firearm, a law enforcement interview with a friend revealed that Watts once showed the person a gun she and Kitson had from the back of her car. A text message recovered from Kitson's phone also showed a conversation the two had about when Watts would be allowed to legally possess firearms again.
Both Kitson and Watts plead not guilty at their arraignment Tuesday in a Snohomish County courthouse. Both were released on their own recognizance.
"Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon," says Dr. Fred Rivara, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington.
Rivara says eight children are shot every day in America because they gained access to an unsecured firearm.
"We realize that having a loaded firearm on a coffee table where an 11-month-old might accidentally knock it off is an incident waiting to happen," says Rivara.
Dr. Rivara uses the word "unintentional" instead of accidental because he believes leaving a loaded gun where a child can access it is no accident.
"This family lost an 11-month-old baby. That's a tragedy. For them to lose a child is a tragedy that will stay with them forever, particularly because we know it was a preventable incident," says Rivara. "Hopefully, people will see this and think hard about how to safely store their firearms."
Researchers say only about half of the guns in Washington are properly stored. In 2018, Washington lawmakers passed a safe gun storage law.
A Harborview Medical Center study found safe storage decreases the risk of an unintentional shooting or suicide by children up to 80%.