Nine months after his baby boy accidentally shot and killed himself, a Northeast D.C. man has been charged with second-degree murder in the boy’s death.
Facing a judge Wednesday in D.C. Superior Court, JD Wheeler was ordered held without bond.
D.C. police say 23-month old Legend Wheeler died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound Nov. 24, 2021. The gun involved, they say, was unsecured.
Police recovered an extended 9 mm magazine among Wheeler’s clothing and personal effects, they said, but no firearm was found in the Southeast D.C. home.
An affidavit in support of the arrest warrant says that Wheeler had been on pre-trial release for illegal gun charges at the time of the child’s death and had been ordered not to possess any firearms.
D.C. police detectives say that a search of Wheeler’s Instagram account yielded several pictures and video of him with guns — including a video of Wheeler flashing a firearm and even pointing it in the direction of the baby boy who later died in the November shooting.