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Dallas Father Faces Federal Charges After 3-Year-Old's Fatal Shooting, Prosecutors Cite Unsecured Loaded Guns
Jerald Ray Joseph Aplon was arrested Monday on a federal charge of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon after his 3-year-old son died from a close-contact gunshot wound in their Southern Dallas apartment. Prosecutors say Aplon kept a loaded 9mm pistol in an unlocked stool beside his bed and an AR-style rifle, both unsecured.
A Southern Dallas father has been arrested and charged federally after his 3-year-old son died from a gunshot wound in the family's apartment, in a case that has renewed attention on the dangers of unsecured firearms in homes with young children.
Jerald Ray Joseph Aplon was taken into custody on Monday, Nov. 9, and is scheduled to appear in court Friday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. He is charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in federal prison.
The shooting occurred on Oct. 11, when Dallas police were called to an apartment complex off Wadsworth Drive, near Loop 12 and Interstate 45. Officers found an unresponsive child suffering from a gunshot wound. The child was rushed to a hospital but was later pronounced dead.
Neither Dallas police nor prosecutors have released the specific circumstances of the child's death. But a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office announcing the arrest said Aplon told investigators he kept two guns in the home: a Canik 9mm semi-automatic pistol and an AR-style rifle. Both were loaded and unsecured, according to prosecutors.
Federal investigators said Aplon told them the pistol was kept with a round in the chamber inside an unlocked stool beside his bed. Investigators later found the pistol jammed with a spent 9mm casing caught in the slide. The Dallas County Medical Examiner's office indicated the gun allegedly matched the child's wounds from a close-contact gunshot.
Previous reporting on the case found a fundraising website created by the family that said the boy "gained access to a firearm and passed away."
U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould condemned the circumstances in a written statement.
"Leaving a loaded firearm within reach of small children is unconscionable," Raybould said. "We cannot undo this family's heartbreak, but we will bring the full weight of the law against anyone who endangers our children."
The case highlights a persistent public safety concern in communities across North Texas: the presence of loaded, easily accessible guns in homes with children. Federal law prohibits convicted felons from possessing firearms, and prosecutors have increasingly used that statute to pursue charges in cases where children are harmed by unsecured weapons.
The child's death remains under investigation by Dallas police, and additional state charges have not been ruled out. Aplon's Friday court appearance is expected to provide the first public accounting of the evidence federal prosecutors intend to present.