Police charge 19-year-old for reckless homicide, pleading for responsibility from gun-owners
SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Heartbreaking details from South Bend police reveal that although the 19-year-old uncle of Kylin Brooks is the one facing the punishment for the shooting that killed him, Brooks’ two-year-old cousin was the one that pulled the trigger.
Police want this tragedy to serve as a reminder for gun-owners to be more responsible with their weapons.
“We had someone, based on the evidence gathered, who was recklessly leaving a weapon in the vicinity of children, and this is the result,” explains Ken Cotter, Saint Joseph County prosecutor.
Brooks, the baby that was in front of that weapon, died Wednesday morning from his injuries.
He just turned one on July 17th.
“I met with mom and dad, grandma, aunt, those are conversations I don’t want to have,” Cotter says.
Investigators believe 19-year-old Joseph Troupe was staying at the home on Amhurst Ave. with his own two children, as well as Kylin and Kylin's mother.
They say he had slept with a loaded semiautomatic gun underneath his pillow, which was on the floor, the night before.
Tuesday afternoon, Troupe told police he forgot the gun was there and left the bedroom. His two-year-old son and the victim, Kylin, were in the bedroom playing when the gun fired.
Police say Troupe left, hiding the gun that shot his nephew.
Authorities say officers found Troupe in his home with the gun stashed in his couch cushions.
This tragedy marks the 16th time since 2020 a child in South Bend had access to a firearm and hurt someone as a result.
Kylin is the fifth to have died.
“I don’t know how much more, as a community can take, or how much more as a community we can take,” says South Bend Chief of Police, Scott Ruszkowski.
Neighbors, family, and friends all pouring out support to the Brooks family on social media; one neighbor sharing a photo with ABC57 showing the candles they lit in ‘Baby K’s’ honor.
Chief Ruszkowski says he's exhausted with these entirely preventable shootings, pleading with gun-owners to keep their firearms out of the hands of children.
“It could have been avoided; it should have been avoided,” says Chief Ruszkowski, as he’s holding a gun lock. “This is not an end all cure all, but it is a step that could have possibly, maybe even likely, stopped this from happening.”
The South Bend Police Department is handing out gun locks that they say could have prevented this tragedy and can prevent more in the future. Simply go to headquarters off Sample Street, ask the front desk for one, and they’ll hand you one free of change and no questions asked.