Moorhead man sentenced in gun death of 6-year-old boy

3-24-22

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A Moorhead man must serve nearly five years in prison for leaving a loaded gun in his residence that was used in the accidental death of a 6-year-old boy. Phillip Neal Jones Jr., a convicted felon, pleaded guilty last year to illegally possessing a firearm. The 34-year-old Jones has multiple prior felony convictions in Hennepin and Anoka Counties and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time. Court documents show that when the children were left unsupervised at the residence, a visiting child found the .40 caliber pistol under a large snack chip box in the kitchen. The gun went off, hitting and killing a second child.