Christopher Mitchell’s Myspace
Johnson City, TN–It happened at the Value Place Hotel. Little Jacob Mitchell, 2, somehow ended up with a fatal gunshot wound to the head. The only other person in the motel room at the time was 25-year-old Christopher Alan Mitchell…Jabob’s father.
Authorities were called to the hotel at 10:25 p.m. Sunday evening in response to an unresponsive child with a serious injury. Little Jacob was transported to the Johnson City Medical Center where he was pronounced dead. Preliminary investigation revealed that Jacob had died from a single gunshot to the head.
Police found Christopher out in the parking lot, sitting in his truck, with the engine running. He told investigators that he had put the fully loaded gun in a kitchen cabinet ‘knowing that Jacob had been able to get into the cabinet in the past.’ Christopher said that he awakened when he heard what he thought was a firecracker, and saw his son ‘rocking back and forth on a chair before falling off of it.’ Investigators found the gun, a small pistol, on top of an electrical box outside the hotel. Christopher’s truck was parked directly in front of that box. When taken to the police department for further questioning, Christopher gave officers a false name.
Something is rotten with this story…and police aren’t exactly willing to believe that this is a terrible accident just yet. Lt. Steve Sherfey said the theory that the child got the weapon from the cabinet and shot himself is not concrete. ‘We don’t know yet. We’re doing some ballistics,’ Sherfey said. Evidence at the scene was collected and sent to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation crime lab for testing. More will be known after ballistics testing. Investigators have spoken with Jacob’s mother, Heather Mitchell, but aren’t releasing the details of the conversation.
Christopher did not have a license to carry a handgun, big surprise! Management at the hotel stated that when the family moved in, as part of hotel policy, Christopher signed a statement agreeing to the hotel’s ‘no gun’ policy.
Even if Christopher didn’t actually pull the trigger, state law still allows for him to be charged with first-degree murder. According to an affidavit, police charged Christopher under a statute of murder ‘as a result of aggravated child neglect for not providing a safe and secure environment and properly supervising his child while in an unsafe environment.’ Christopher is also facing charges of tampering with evidence as a result of hiding the gun and criminal impersonation. His bond has been set at $150,000 and was also served with a violation of probation warrant. He is set for arraignment later today.
Jacob Mitchell. RIP.
Tags: aggravated child neglect, Christopher Allen Mitchell, criminal impersonation, fatal gunshot wound, first-degree murder, Heather Mitchell, Jacob Mitchell, Johnson City, Johnson City Medical Center, Lt. Steve Sherfey, Tampering with evidence, Tennessee, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Value Place Hotel
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