Mohave County – Three people are in custody after an eight-month-old baby was accidently shot in the head and arm with a BB gun. The baby’s mother, Marticella Lopez-Rodriguez, and her friends Zion Zachary Kauffman and Savannah Joy Cushman were each charged for one count of Aggravated Assault, one count of Child Abuse and one count of Hindering Prosecution, all felonies.
One pellet fractured her skull and lodged in her cranial cavity causing her to airlifted to a hospital in Las Vegas.
The baby is listed in critical condition.
According to the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office, the baby was in a car seat that was placed on the ground while Lopez-Rodriguez, was gathering firewood Tuesday in Golden Valley. Kauffman shot up to 30 BBs at a flock of quail near the baby.
On November 3, at approximately 10:09 p.m., deputies with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office responded to Kingman Regional Medical Center after receiving a call about a baby with suspicious injuries. Prior to deputies arrival, the baby had been transported by air to a Las Vegas hospital where she was listed in critical condition.
Lopez-Rodriguez, age 34 of Golden Valley, had also left the hospital prior to law enforcement arrival.
Detectives with the Mohave County Sheriff’s Office responded to Las Vegas where made contact with Lopez-Rodriguez. She claimed that she was out gathering fire wood with her baby and Kauffman and Cushman, when an unknown person began firing an air soft gun at them.
The investigation revealed however, that Zion had shot ten to thirty b.b.’s at a covey of quail that were in the area of the baby.
Lopez-Rodriquez confirmed that she had in fact made up the false details relating to this incident and admitted to how the incident had actually occurred.