On Friday, August 15, 2025, three-year-old Gionni Jackson, a male from Struthers, Ohio, was fatally wounded inside a home on the 400 block of Spring Street after accessing an unsecured firearm. First responders were called shortly before 1 p.m.; a woman attempted to drive Gionni Jackson, age 3, to the hospital but stopped in a nearby plaza to perform CPR when he stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at the hospital just after 1 p.m., the Mahoning County coroner later confirmed.
Investigators said the child’s wound was self-inflicted after he got hold of a loaded gun in the residence. According to a police report described by local media, the father of Gionni Jackson, age 3, told officers he had left the firearm on a dresser while he went to the bathroom, and during that brief interval the child picked up the weapon and it discharged, striking him in the head. The death of Gionni Jackson, male, was initially investigated by Struthers police, who described it as the “worst possible situation” stemming from an unsecured firearm in the home.
Because of a conflict of interest—Struthers’ police chief later said the boy was the grandson of one of his officers—the case was transferred to the Mahoning County Sheriff’s Office soon after the shooting. The sheriff confirmed his agency would lead the investigation, and the police chief publicly clarified the reason for the handoff a few days later.
Public records and obituaries identified the child as Gionni Amillio Jackson, age 3, with services held the following week at Holy Family Church in Poland, Ohio. Notices of his passing appeared in local funeral and obituary listings, which recorded his date of birth as August 10, 2022, and his date of death as August 15, 2025.
As for arrests or suspects, two months after the death of Gionni Jackson, male, the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office stated on October 16, 2025, that it had only recently received investigative reports and was reviewing them. As of that update, officials had not announced any arrests or filed charges in the case, and no suspects had been publicly named.
