Mother of boy in school shooting case arrested, jailed
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PORT ORCHARD, Wash. - The mother of a boy who accidentally shot an 8-year-old Bremerton girl during school was arrested and taken away in handcuffs Thursday following a court hearing.
The boy's mother, Jamie Lee Chaffin, was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of third-degree assault during the hearing.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison.
Chaffin, who also goes by the last name of Passmore, was booked into the Kitsap County jail on $50,000 bail for the assault charge and also for three outstanding arrest warrants from previous incidents, including theft and domestic violence, in Pierce County.
She is the mother of the 9-year-old boy who took a gun to Armin Jahr Elementary on Feb. 22 in a backpack. It fired when he put the backpack on a desk, nearly killing Amina Kocer-Bowmen.
The little girl remains in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she has undergone at least five surgeries. She has a shattered elbow and serious injuries to internal organs. The bullet is still lodged in muscle near her spine.
Chaffin's boyfriend, Douglas L. Bauer, also was charged in court with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of third-degree assault.
He also pleaded not guilty and was released without bail on his own personal recognizance after the hearing, since he has no prior criminal history.
Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge said the charges stretch the usual application of the unlawful possession and assault laws.
"It's not been done before, that we know, but we're confident in our research," he said Thursday. "We think the law in Washington is sound - that under the definition of cause that Washington uses, the situation that was created by the mother and boyfriend that allowed the boy to come into possession amounts to them being legally responsible for it."
Bauer's lawyer, Wayne Fricke, told the judge the assault charge was a "novel application of the law," the Kitsap Sun reported.
It is unusual to bring the unlawful possession charge for enabling access to a weapon, Hauge said, adding that there were at least three other loaded guns in the home.
"It's just one small step removed from them saying, here are the guns lying around the house; here, take one," he said.
The boy was visiting his mother, who does not have custody, when he took the .45-caliber handgun, which belongs to Bauer, from a car glove box, authorities said. The boy was reportedly planning on running away and took the gun for protection. He pleaded guilty last week to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to probation and counseling. He is expected to testify in the case against his mother.
Police visited Chaffin's residence and found a loaded, unsecured pistol the same day her son brought a gun to school. They also found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun leaning against the wall next to a night stand at the home.
The school shooting was the first of three child shootings in three weeks in western Washington.
Last Saturday, the 7-year-old daughter of an off-duty Marysville police officer was accidentally shot and killed when a sibling found his gun as the children were left alone in a van parked near the Stanwood City Hall.
On Wednesday a 3-year-old accidentally killed himself when he found his father's gun under a car seat after the family had stopped for gas in Tacoma and the parents were out of the car.
The boy's mother, Jamie Lee Chaffin, was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of third-degree assault during the hearing.
She pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, she could face up to five years in prison.
Chaffin, who also goes by the last name of Passmore, was booked into the Kitsap County jail on $50,000 bail for the assault charge and also for three outstanding arrest warrants from previous incidents, including theft and domestic violence, in Pierce County.
She is the mother of the 9-year-old boy who took a gun to Armin Jahr Elementary on Feb. 22 in a backpack. It fired when he put the backpack on a desk, nearly killing Amina Kocer-Bowmen.
The little girl remains in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, where she has undergone at least five surgeries. She has a shattered elbow and serious injuries to internal organs. The bullet is still lodged in muscle near her spine.
Chaffin's boyfriend, Douglas L. Bauer, also was charged in court with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm and one count of third-degree assault.
He also pleaded not guilty and was released without bail on his own personal recognizance after the hearing, since he has no prior criminal history.
Kitsap County Prosecutor Russ Hauge said the charges stretch the usual application of the unlawful possession and assault laws.
"It's not been done before, that we know, but we're confident in our research," he said Thursday. "We think the law in Washington is sound - that under the definition of cause that Washington uses, the situation that was created by the mother and boyfriend that allowed the boy to come into possession amounts to them being legally responsible for it."
Bauer's lawyer, Wayne Fricke, told the judge the assault charge was a "novel application of the law," the Kitsap Sun reported.
It is unusual to bring the unlawful possession charge for enabling access to a weapon, Hauge said, adding that there were at least three other loaded guns in the home.
"It's just one small step removed from them saying, here are the guns lying around the house; here, take one," he said.
The boy was visiting his mother, who does not have custody, when he took the .45-caliber handgun, which belongs to Bauer, from a car glove box, authorities said. The boy was reportedly planning on running away and took the gun for protection. He pleaded guilty last week to reckless endangerment and was sentenced to probation and counseling. He is expected to testify in the case against his mother.
Police visited Chaffin's residence and found a loaded, unsecured pistol the same day her son brought a gun to school. They also found a loaded 12-gauge shotgun leaning against the wall next to a night stand at the home.
The school shooting was the first of three child shootings in three weeks in western Washington.
Last Saturday, the 7-year-old daughter of an off-duty Marysville police officer was accidentally shot and killed when a sibling found his gun as the children were left alone in a van parked near the Stanwood City Hall.
On Wednesday a 3-year-old accidentally killed himself when he found his father's gun under a car seat after the family had stopped for gas in Tacoma and the parents were out of the car.
