Dad of 3-year-old killed in apparent accidental shooting facing felony gun, child endangerment charges

The father of a 3-year-old boy who was killed Sunday afternoon in an apparent accidental shooting at their Far South Side home is now facing felony charges for illegally possessing a gun and putting the child in danger.

Ronald Davis, 29, was charged with unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and endangering the life of his son, Mikah Davis, according to Chicago police.

Court records show Ronald Davis was convicted of a felony count of manufacture or delivery of cannabis and sentenced to probation in 2011. He was later sent to Cook County Jail for 60 days in 2013 when he violated the conditions of that probation.

Chicago police

While that conviction prohibits him from possessing a gun, Ronald Davis’ only other listed conviction is for misdemeanor cannabis possession in 2013, court records show.

“We are concerned on how a firearm ended up in that house, how it ended up unsecured and certainly how it ended up in the hands of a 3-year-old child,” CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Young Mikah Davis’ family members told investigators they heard a gunshot ring out about 4:15 p.m. Sunday at the home in the 9600 block of South Escanaba Avenue, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office. The family members said they found Mikah shot in the face in another room with a gun near him.

Justin Jackson/Sun-Times

Ronald Davis and the boy’s mother then drove him to Trinity Hospital, where he was pronounced dead about a half hour later, authorities said.

The results of Mikah’s autopsy were pending Monday, but Guglielmi said police would pursue additional charges if the findings prove the death wasn’t accidental. In the meantime, Mikah’s 10-month-old sibling has been placed in protective custody, Guglielmi said.

Jassen Strokosch, a spokesman for the Department of Child and Family Services, confirmed the child was in the agency’s custody. He also detailed a previous neglect complaint involving Mikah that stemmed from an April 19, 2017, incident in Schaumburg.

In that incident, Mikah’s 55-year-old grandmother, Michele Ranger, was arrested and charged with misdemeanor child endangerment after allegedly leaving the young boy unsupervised inside a locked vehicle in a parking lot, according to Strokosch and court records. The charge was later dismissed.