NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Norfolk mother was convicted Thursday on a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor connected to an incident where her 6-year-old son brought a gun to school.
Police responded to Little Creek Elementary School on Feb. 16 around 3:30 p.m. for the report of a first grade student with a handgun. The child’s teacher found the gun after searching his backpack, acting on a tip from another student.
There were no injuries as a result of this incident.
The child who brought the gun to school is too young to be criminally charged, but police charged his mother, Letty M. Lopez, the next day. She was released on a criminal summons.
During the bench trial on Thursday, Aug. 24, witnesses testified that Lopez often left her son home alone and that she was known to own at least one firearm. Lopez denied leaving her son home alone that morning.
According to the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, it remains unclear how the child got a hold of the gun, although Lopez stated she could not recall if she had properly locked up the firearm in her safe that day.
The contributing to the delinquency of a minor charge is a Class 1 misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of a year in jail. The judge presiding over this case found Lopez guilty and sentenced her to 60 days in jail, but suspended that sentence with the conditions that she complete one year of uniform good behavior and she must hand over the revolver to be destroyed.
