--- title: 3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Fired Under Grandma's Pillow description: A 3-year-old New Orleans boy was killed Wednesday after a gun that was underneath a pillow discharged and struck him in the chest canonical: https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/ author: Melissa Chan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-20T20:34:33.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T09:07:44.316Z article:section: U.S. og:title: 3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Under Grandma’s Pillow Goes Off og:description: He was fatally shot in the chest og:url: https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta82d7e46954a07a5/698879d70b72e3bb066e7bbf/deonca-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Deonca-Kennedy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Under Grandma’s Pillow Goes Off twitter:description: He was fatally shot in the chest twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta82d7e46954a07a5/698879d70b72e3bb066e7bbf/deonca-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Under Grandma’s Pillow Goes Off  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 20, 2016 8:34 PM CUT  Deonca Kennedy in a photo distributed by the New Orleans Police Department. Deonca Kennedy in a photo distributed by the New Orleans Police Department.New Orleans Police Department  by [Melissa Chan](/author/melissa-chan/)  ## Melissa Chan Jan 20, 2016 8:34 PM CUT A 3-year-old New Orleans boy was killed Wednesday after a [gun that was underneath a pillow discharged](http://www.nola.gov/nopd/press-releases/2016/20160120-nopd-arrests-grandmother-in-toddler-s-dea/ "undefined") and struck him in the chest, police said. The child, whose identity was not released, was in bed with his sleeping 42-year-old grandmother, [Deonca Kennedy](http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/01/toddler%5Fkilled%5Fby%5Fgun%5Fin%5Fbed.html "undefined"), when he was fatally shot about 2 a.m., according to the New Orleans Police Department. Kennedy, a security guard, was the only other person home at the time of the shooting, according to authorities and [_The Times-Picayune_](http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2016/01/grandmother%5Farrested%5Fin%5Fshooti.html "undefined"). She was taken in for questioning at NOPD headquarters, where police say she “refused to give a statement or cooperate with detectives.” She was later booked on charges of negligent homicide, second-degree cruelty to a juvenile and child desertion, the NOPD said. Her grandson was rushed to the hospital Wednesday but could not be saved, police said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/"},"headline":"3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Under Grandma’s Pillow Goes Off","datePublished":"2016-01-20T20:34:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T09:07:44.316Z","description":"He was fatally shot in the chest","url":"https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta82d7e46954a07a5/698879d70b72e3bb066e7bbf/deonca-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Chan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-chan/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta82d7e46954a07a5/698879d70b72e3bb066e7bbf/deonca-kennedy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Deonca-Kennedy","caption":"Deonca Kennedy in a photo distributed by the New Orleans Police Department.","creditText":"New Orleans Police Department","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4187553/boy-gun-grandma-pilow-new-orleans/","name":"3-Year-Old Boy Killed After Gun Under Grandma’s Pillow Goes Off"}}]}] ```