In the small town of Huntingburg, Indiana, the life of 16-year-old Matthew Wayne Kendall was cut tragically short on the night of Friday, July 22, 2016. A student at Southridge High School, Matthew was known for his love of music and his ability to bring laughter to those around him.
On that fateful evening, Matthew was at a friend's home on North Main Street. Just after 11:30 p.m., a call was made to the police reporting that a male had been shot.
When officers arrived, they found Matthew with a gunshot wound to his head. Despite the immediate medical attention from the Huntingburg Fire Department and Memorial Hospital Emergency Medical Services, he succumbed to his injuries at the scene.
The investigation that followed revealed a grim sequence of events. Police determined that Matthew was visiting a 15-year-old friend who was handling a 9mm Glock handgun. The firearm, which had recently been reported stolen from a nearby vehicle, accidentally discharged while the friend was showing it to Matthew. The 15-year-old was subsequently arrested and faced a Level 5 felony count of reckless homicide and a Class A misdemeanor for theft. He was then transported to a juvenile detention center.
In the wake of this tragedy, the legal focus shifted to the issue of the stolen firearm. Matthew's mother filed a negligence lawsuit against the owner of the gun, who had left the loaded weapon in an unlocked truck. However, both the Dubois Circuit Court and the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the gun owner was not civilly liable for what happened after the weapon was stolen. The courts cited an Indiana law that immunizes gun owners from civil liability for any subsequent use of their stolen firearms.
