Father charged with murder of 3-year-old son after initially telling cops he was sleeping when boy accidentally shot himself

By ASSOCIATED PRESS | The Daily Mail

Charges have been upgraded against a Tennessee man in his three-year-old son’s shooting death.

Court documents show 25-year-old Cortez Wilkerson now faces charges of first-degree murder and aggravated child neglect in the death of Kash Sharp on Saturday in Memphis.

He was initially arrested on reckless homicide and drug and weapons charges in the boy’s death and pleaded not guilty Monday.

Drug paraphernalia, a .40-caliber pistol and 16 live rounds were found during a search of the address, investigators said.

An affidavit shows Wilkerson now faces the new charges. His lawyer did not immediately return a call seeking comment Tuesday.

Documents seen by Fox13 show Wilkerson told investigators he was awakened by a gunshot and, when he opened his eyes, he saw his son lying on his lap with a gunshot wound to the head.

His son, he told investigators, had found his gun and shot himself accidentally. ‘This is all my fault,’ he told police at the scene.

Records show investigators later determined Wilkerson was the only one who could have fired the gun.

They say Wilkerson’s story changed several times and that, at one point, the father said he could’ve been startled from his sleep and fired the shot.

The little boy was found with a gunshot wound to the head and his father was applying pressure to the injury.

Family members said over the weekend that the shooting was accidental.