LIBBY — Timothy Moore has been jailed on a pending charge of negligent homicide after his 3-year-old son died from a gunshot wound on Tuesday at a residence several miles south of Libby.
The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a child who had been shot on Granite Creek Road shortly after 10 a.m.
Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short says when first responders arrived, they were told the child had accidentally been shot in the face.
The child was treated at the scene and then taken to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center, where Short says the child later died.
The child’s father, 24-year-old Moore, was arrested following an investigation, according to Short.
According to an affidavit, when a Lincoln County Sheriff's deputy arrived on the scene, he found Moore outside sitting on the road.
The deputy said Moore appeared to be in an "altered mental state." The deputy asked Moore if he was involved, and Moore asked the deputy "to shoot him."
Moore told the deputy that he set his firearm on the couch and went outside to smoke. Moore said as he was standing outside, he heard a popping sound.
He told the deputy he ran back inside and found his child holding the firearm with an apparent gunshot wound to the head.
Court documents says that the deputy saw a .22 caliber handgun in Moore's pants pocket.
When Moore was being arrested, a detective observed "track" marks on his arm consistent with intravenous drug use.
Moore also had two magazines for a .22 caliber handgun in his pants pocket.
While a detective was working to secure the scene, a woman who also lives at the residence asked for keys to her vehicle and her prescription medication.
The detective found a clear glass pipe laying at the top of the stairs. The pipe appeared to be consistent with drug paraphernalia used to smoke illegal narcotics, per court documents.
When the detective went inside the home, he found the woman's medication and found a multi-color silicone container with a crystal-like substance in it. The substance appeared consistent with illegal narcotics such as methamphetamine.
Moore is being held at the Lincoln County Detention Center on bail of $500,000 bond. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 11 in Lincoln County Justice Court.
The child's body is being taken to the Montana State Crime Lab in Missoula so that an autopsy can be performed.
