Chicago mom charged after 5-year-old daughter shoots herself

CHICAGO -- Police say a five-year-old Chicago girl is in serious condition after she shot herself in the abdomen with a handgun that she found in her mother's purse.

Larrinita Starks (PHOTO: Chicago Police Department)

 

Police said Wednesday, January 18th that the girl's mother, 22-year-old Larrinita Starks, has been charged with child endangerment.

The shooting happened Tuesday night in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the city's West Side.

Police said the girl got the gun from her mother's purse in a bedroom.

Starks is due in court March 16. She doesn't have a listed phone number and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Police said the injured girl is in serious condition. Her grandmother, Oretha Miller, says the child is stable and recovering.