When authorities raided a residence after a 4-year-old boy was accidentally shot by himself, they discovered reptiles, guns, and drugs.
The boy was brought to UAB St. Vincent’s Blount and then airlifted to Children’s of Alabama, according to Blount County District Attorney Pamela Casey. The child is stable following surgery.
Blount County deputies discovered the toddler had been shot with a firearm. Deputies reported one shot went through his arm and leg.
Cassandra Lutz and Alexander Corrie, the boy’s parents, did not report the event to law police. The hospital notified the deputies.
Sheriff Mark Moon reported that the mother was yelling at the youngster in the hospital, saying things like, “This is what happens when you play with guns.”
The mother told deputies she was in the kitchen, while the father stated that he was outside when the gun went off.
After obtaining a search warrant, investigators went to the family’s home in the Sugarland Lake neighborhood. There were a few trailers on the site. In the caravan where the family lived, deputies also discovered:
- A baby crocodile, Cayman, or alligator in a bathroom
- 24 live snakes, considered to be constrictors and non-venomous.
- Six dead snakes, covered in maggots
- boxes for mice and rats
- Multiple unsecured guns were discovered near where the youngsters were located.
- Drug paraphernalia and suspected marijuana.
The creatures were in containers with no lids. All of the animals are either with Animal Control or the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division.
Moon described the discovery of a crocodile in the residence as “jarring,” and said if it had grown large enough to escape, it may have been dumped into a neighboring lake and caused difficulties.
There was no running water or functioning facilities on the site. There were dogs, cats, and at least one turkey outside the house.
“The home that they lived in was unfit for human habitation,” Moon said during the news conference, detailing the decaying animals and the property’s condition during the search warrant.
Another boy under the age of four was removed from the family. The two youngsters were placed in protective custody.
“It’s a big deal for us to be able to protect life in general, but when you start talking about children and young people, those hold a very special place in my part,” Moon told the audience.
When asked what had happened, the child replied, “I got shot by a gun.”
Lutz and Corrie face the following charges:
- Assault
- Chemical Endangerment of a Child
- Ten cases of animal abuse
- Six counts of neglect to bury or burn livestock.
They are currently being held in the Blount County Jail, with the possibility of additional charges from the Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division for unpermitted animals.
