A Dallas father faces a federal firearm charge after his 3-year-old child died from a gunshot wound at an apartment where investigators say he kept a loaded pistol in an unlocked stool beside his bed.
Jerald Ray Joseph Aplon, 21, faces a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas announced Friday. Authorities arrested him November 9, and the release listed his initial federal court appearance for November 13.
The charge follows the October 11 shooting at a residence on Wadsworth Drive in South Oak Cliff. The Dallas Express previously reported on the child’s death and the Dallas police investigation.
“Leaving a loaded firearm within reach of small children is unconscionable,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in the November 13 release.
Loaded pistol in an unlocked stool
Aplon told investigators he owned a Canik 9mm semiautomatic pistol and an AR-style rifle and kept both loaded and unsecured, according to the complaint as described in the release. He said he stored the pistol with a round in the chamber inside the unlocked stool beside his bed, prosecutors said.
Dallas police detectives recovered the pistol from the bedroom stool while executing a search warrant. A spent 9mm casing jammed the firearm’s slide, according to the release. Investigators also recovered an RF-15 multi-caliber rifle from a closet.
The Dallas County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the child sustained a close-contact gunshot wound, according to the release. Prosecutors allege that Aplon’s unsecured pistol caused the wound.
The release does not identify who fired the pistol. It announces a firearm-possession charge against Aplon, rather than a homicide charge.
Prior felony conviction alleged
The complaint alleges that Aplon had a September 2023 felony theft conviction in Denton County that prohibited him from possessing firearms. It also alleges that the pistol originated outside Texas and traveled in interstate or foreign commerce before he possessed it.
Aplon faces up to 15 years in federal prison if convicted, prosecutors said. A criminal complaint contains allegations, and he retains the presumption of innocence unless prosecutors prove guilt in court.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Dallas Field Division and Dallas police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadin-Sarah Salkić of the Violent Crimes Section is prosecuting it.
Aplon is currently held in the Dallas County jail, where he is facing state charges for criminal trespass, marijuana possession, and making a firearm accessible to a child leading to death, in addition to the federal gun charge.
