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The mother and step-father of a Tucson boy who fatally shot himself in the head back in January pleaded not guilty to child abuse charges in Pima County Superior Court this morning.
According to police, Genesia Elizabeth Lozano and Carlos Janesch Lozano left their 10-year-old son, Anthony J. Wells, home alone when they and their 2-year-old daughter went to pick up pizza.
In the short time they were gone, Wells — a fifth-grader at Peter Howell Elementary School in Tucson — found his stepfather’s unloaded, semiautomatic handgun, loaded it, and then accidentally shot himself in the head.
According to the indictment, the parents “failed to provide adequate care and/or supervision and/or medical/mental health attention” in the 11 months leading up to Wells’ death.
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The pair, according to the indictment, also face child abuse charges for “leaving a child unsupervised in a home with a gun.”
The Lozanos were released on their own recognizance this morning and will be back in court on June 25.
