PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — The suspect in the shooting of a Portsmouth 2-year-old was denied bond on Wednesday.
Al McNeil is charged with second-degree murder, use of a firearm and shooting in the commission of a felony.
The boy, Mayze Moon, was shot in the head last Wednesday in a home at the 2800 block of Deep Creek Blvd. He died in a hospital on Saturday. McNeil, who’s from Norfolk, later turned himself in to police.
Wednesday afternoon, defense attorney Richard Davis tried to convince Judge Diane Griffin that McNeil deserved bond, but Griffin denied McNeil his freedom.
In the home, police found a gun and a bullet hole in the front door.
McNeil gave authorities conflicting accounts of what led to the shooting of the child. The narrative from a document obtained by WAVY in Portsmouth Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court shows that McNeil said, “the victim was inside and that he must have bumped the chair where the firearm (pistol) was, making it go off.”
However, police then wrote that McNeil went on to say, “the victim bumped him causing the firearm to go off once it hit the floor.”
McNeil is a Norfolk native, and his domestic partner of more than nine years testified at the bond hearing that he was “an honest man” with a steady job as a dump truck driver and ties to the community.
Police are working to learn why the gun was fired, and court documents show a warrant request for evidence collection.
Moon would have turned 3 years old this week, and McNeil’s partner testified that McNeil loved the child like he was family. Though McNeil and the child’s relationship is still unclear.
The prosecution said they believe the shooting was no accident, and that McNeil was a flight risk despite having no criminal background.
McNeil is set for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 12 and in the meantime, he’s been moved from the Portsmouth jail to an undisclosed location after potential threats. Court documents showed that police believed the victim’s family would have harmed McNeil before he was taken into custody.
Family members had clothing emblazoned with Mayze’s name and did not want to speak to the media following the hearing.