In a tragic incident in Sandy Springs, an Atlanta suburb, a 2-year-old boy named River Willis died on February 18, 2026, from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The event took place in the family's apartment on Sandalwood Drive in the early afternoon. Emergency services were called to the scene, but the child was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the face.
According to arrest warrants and police statements, the boy's parents, Richard Willis and his wife, had just returned from a
medical procedure and had put their son down for a nap in his own room with a cellphone. The father, Richard Willis, told investigators he had taken off his fanny pack, which contained a loaded 9mm pistol, and left it on the bed in the master bedroom. A short time later, River went to his father to say the phone's battery had died and asked his father to come and lie down with him. Willis instructed the child to go to the master bedroom and wait for him there, saying he would join him shortly.
Minutes after his son went back upstairs, the father heard a gunshot. He ran to the master bedroom and discovered his fanny pack was open, the pistol was lying next to his son's leg, and the child had sustained a fatal gunshot wound. Authorities allege that the father was aware that his son knew the gun was kept in the fanny pack and acted with criminal negligence by leaving the loaded weapon in an accessible location.
Following an investigation, Richard Willis was arrested and taken to the Fulton County Jail. He has been charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children. Willis is currently being held without bond. In the wake of the tragedy, River's mother described the relationship between the boy and his father as "love in its purest form" and spoke of the deep bond they shared. The family is now trying to cope with their loss and stay strong for their surviving child.
