In the autumn of 2023, a heart-wrenching incident in Lansing, Michigan, resulted in the death of two-year-old King Muhammad. The young boy, a male, died after he accidentally shot himself on October 24th. The tragedy unfolded in the backseat of a car at a Sunoco gas station on Dunkel Road.
At the time of the incident, King was in the vehicle with his mother, 26-year-old Emma Jane Huver.
According to prosecutors, Huver was reportedly distracted by her phone when her son climbed into the front seat where he found a gun and the weapon discharged. The shot struck the toddler in the head. Moments after the gunshot, Huver exited the car holding her bleeding child. The firearm allegedly fell to the pavement as she got out.
Avis Damone Coward, a 41-year-old man described as Huver's friend, had entered the gas station just a minute before the shooting. After hearing the shot, he rushed back to the vehicle. Huver handed the gravely injured child to Coward, who then passed him to another person nearby who attempted to control the bleeding. King Muhammad was rushed to a local hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries later that day.
Following the incident, both Huver and Coward, who are convicted felons, faced a series of state and federal charges. Huver was charged with involuntary manslaughter, second-degree child abuse, and multiple firearm-related felonies. Coward was federally charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. It is alleged that after the shooting, Coward placed the gun back in the vehicle and drove away.
Authorities also accused Coward of orchestrating a plan from jail to destroy evidence. The firearm was later recovered in pieces by law enforcement. Another individual, Gina Scheiberal, was also charged with tampering with evidence in connection to the burned-out and abandoned SUV in which the shooting occurred. Huver, who had fled to Arizona after her son’s death, was extradited back to Michigan. She also faced charges for illegally removing an electronic monitoring device she was wearing as part of her probation for previous drug convictions.
