Middletown man sentenced after child shot himself with unsecured gun at local park
Nov. 28—A Middletown man was sentenced to probation Tuesday in Butler County Common Pleas Court for an April incident in which his 4-year-old sibling shot himself with an unsecured gun found in the seat of an SUV.
Yvonte I. Glover, 26, was indicted in July by a grand jury for child endangering, a third-degree felony. Middletown police and prosecutors say it was his loaded handgun shoved between the seats that the boy found and used to shoot himself in the abdomen on April 12 in Jacot Park.
Last month, Glover pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of attempted improper handling of a firearm in a motor vehicle, a fifth-degree felony. He faced up to 12 months behind bars.
Judge Noah Powers II sentenced Glover to two years probation and ordered him to stay away from guns, bars, drugs and alcohol.
Glover spent a few days in the Butler County Jail this month awaiting sentencing after allegedly violating his own recognizance bond with a misdemeanor arrest.
Glover was arrested for misdemeanor domestic violence on Nov. 5 in Akron, according to court records. Glover was booked into the Butler County Jail on Nov. 21 for the bond violation, but will be released since he has been sentenced here.
The domestic violence case is still pending in Akron Municipal Court.
The child has recovered from the through-and-through shot, according to officials.
The incident happened about 5:30 p.m. at the park. Glover was there with four young children, including the boy who was injured, and his girlfriend, according to Middletown police.
The boy went back to the vehicle for a drink of water when he picked up the gun and fired it, the police report says. The weapon used is listed as a Smith and Wesson 9-millimeter handgun, according to the police report. It was left in the SUV between the seat and the console.
