Milwaukee boy shot, mother charged with child neglect
Amanda Krebs
MILWAUKEE - A Milwaukee mother is charged with child neglect after her 7-year-old son was shot on the city's south side Sunday, June 25.
Prosecutors say 37-year-old Amanda Krebs told people to lie about what actually happened – and should not have had a gun in the first place.
According to a criminal complaint, the 7-year-old first told police he saw a man with a "ski mask waving a gun" in an alley before he heard a loud bang. Krebs said she and her son were walking to a gas station at the time, and ran back home after hearing the bang.
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Police searched the alley near 22nd and Orchard but did not find blood, video or any other evidence that supported a shooting there.
Police asked Krebs if there were any guns in her home. She said she didn't have any, the complaint states, because she can't have any as a convicted felon but later admitted she knew of one in the house. Eventually, she said her son was shot inside the home, and she lied to police because she was "scared."
Milwaukee shooting: Boy, 7, shot near 22nd and Orchard
Krebs said the gun was kept in a bag in another room, per the complaint, but said no one touched it and it "went off on its own." After that happened, she said she wrapped it in insulation and put it in the basement.
The complaint states police found the bag Krebs said the gun was in, but found no evidence that "would be expected had the firearm been fired while inside the bag." As for the gun, there was no evidence that it had malfunctioned unless someone cleared it.
Police later spoke to an 18-year-old man and 18-year-old woman who said they were at the home the day of the shooting. The complaint states Krebs told both of them to lie and say the shooting happened in the alley, when it really happened inside the home. They both said Krebs was in another room when the boy was shot.
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The 7-year-old later said he pulled the trigger because he "thought it was a toy." However, the complaint states another witness told investigators that Krebs fired the weapon – hitting the boy.
Furthermore, the complaint states, the conditions inside the home were so bad it was deemed "not livable" and boarded up. Police reported standing sewage in the basement, exposed wires, no plumbing, and an infestation of bedbugs and cockroaches. Krebs told police the 7-year-old "has never attended school," and is one of her six kids for whom she is the primary caregiver.
Krebs is also charged with possession of a firearm by a felon. In court for her initial appearance June 30, her cash bond was set at $2,000.