Toddler in Texas was shot and injured by a woman who mishandled a gun at a weekend Halloween party, charged

Millions of adults and children nationwide celebrate Halloween in different ways. While Halloween is the perfect opportunity for everyone to have fun and party, it’s also one of the worst days of the year in terms of the number of fatalities and injuries that occur during the Halloween celebrations.

Such was the case with a toddler from Texas who was shot and injured by a woman at a house Halloween party that took place over the weekend. Late Sunday night, the 18-month-old toddler was taken to a local hospital in San Antonio for treatment and is expected to survive. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Police Department launched an investigation and learned that one of the attendees mishandled a firearm and shot the child by mistake.

Per a report by the San Antonio NBC affiliate WOAI, the child was suffering from a wound to the chest and was unconscious when the parents arrived at the hospital. The child was admitted to the emergency room and received initial treatment right away.

The child’s parents said to the medical personnel that the toddler was playing with a cell phone that reportedly exploded while the child had it in their hands. Doctors, however, soon realized that the exploding cell phone story did not comport with the injuries the child sustained. Hospital personnel then notified the San Antonio Police Department about the incident.

When questioned by the local police the same night, the parents said that their child was at a house Halloween party hosted by a family relative. The parents continued that the toddler was sitting in a stroller holding a cell phone. The story, again, was not in correlation with the injuries the kid was suffering.

That prompted the officers to launch an investigation into the incident. Several witnesses who attended the party said to the police that they heard “something like a balloon popping” just moments before the child was injured. That’s when the child’s parents were informed that the injury occurred as a result of a shooting and not as a result of a cell phone explosion. The parents were shocked because they didn’t know about the shooting until that moment.

The 33-year-old Eloisa Fraga was taken into custody on Monday and charged with one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting, a second-degree felony, court records show. The investigation showed that Fraga was reportedly playing with a handgun in front of several attendees before the gun went off. The bullet then traveled through the cell phone in the baby’s hand before striking the child.

Even though Fraga had fled the scene right after the incident, at least one witness managed to recognize her from a photograph. The San Antonio Police Department was not able to locate her Sunday night, but she was taken into custody on Monday around noon. She was released from jail the same day after posting $75,000 bond. The next court hearing about the incident is set to take place on December 14. A judge issued “no contact” and “no firearms PPOU” orders for Fraga following her release.