DETROIT (WXYZ) — A man accused in the shooting of a 2-year-old boy in Detroit has turned himself over to police, officials say.
Police were originally searching for Darius Lacey, 27, who allegedly took off from the scene after the incident. An acquaintance Lacey was with turned himself in just before 10 p.m. Tuesday.
Detroit police responded to the scene after receiving a 911 call around 6:45 p.m. at the Jefferson Square Apartments on the city's east side on Dickerson Avenue near Essex Avenue.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found at least 15 shell casings, interim Chief Todd Bettison said on scene.
Hear more from Bettison in the video player below:
The child was shot in the thigh and privately taken to the hospital by family. Police said the child is stable as of Tuesday evening.
Investigators believe the shooting stemmed from a domestic situation between the mother's current boyfriend and her ex-boyfriend. Police believe Lacey was trying to move things out of the apartment when he saw the mother's new boyfriend. The two men allegedly fired gunshots at each other when the toddler was hit.
The mother's boyfriend was also taken into custody.
Bianca Daniels, the mother of the 2-year-old, said her son is recovering in the hospital.
“He’s doing better than what I expected,” Daniels said. “He’s very strong, he’s fighting through it, he’s doing his best.”
"I would like to just ask him why because my baby didn’t deserve that.”
"Just senseless," Bettison said Tuesday evening. "I'll tell you one thing: we're going to hold him accountable. We're going to hold all the adults accountable in this thing. So at least we know who we're looking for and we'll have him in custody soon."
If anyone has information about the incident, you're asked to call the Detroit Police Department at 313-596-5800 Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAK-UP.
