Los Angeles deputy Manuel Murillo, 37, was arraigned on Thursday for placing his loaded duty weapon in the backpack of an 8-year-old child he is related to before dropping the child off with a caretaker leaving the backpack and the child behind, according to a press release from the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Now Murillo is charged with two counts of criminal storage of a firearm and child endangerment.
The caretaker discovered the gun on April 11 about 25 minutes after Murillo dropped the child off and then reported it to the Fullerton Police Department.
The Orange County DA’s office described the child as a relative of Murillo but didn’t provide further details on the exact relationship since the child is considered a minor.
Murillo “knew and reasonably should have known that a child is likely to gain access to the firearm” the district attorney’s office said.
The circumstances of how the caretaker discovered the weapon are unknown so far.
Fullerton police investigated the incident and charged Murillo on June 6.
If convicted, deputy Murillo, who was off-duty at the time of the incident, could face up to a year in jail.
A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for August 23.
