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Florida man accused of shooting 4-year-old through wall at family ‘Christmas get-together’

Diego Diaz-Martinez, 31, faces charges of child neglect and using a gun under the influence of alcohol

Diego Diaz-Martinez, 31 (Collier County Sheriff's Office)

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man was taken into custody on Tuesday after a 4-year-old child was shot on the night of Christmas, according to the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.

In an affidavit, deputies said they responded to a home in Naples on Christmas after receiving a call about the shot child.

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According to deputies, the child had been shot in his leg “just above the ankle but below the calf.”

Detectives said they learned from the home’s resident that he and his family had been having a “Christmas get-together.”

The resident’s cousin allegedly asked to see one of his firearms “because he wanted to have a firearm of his own and he thought they were cool,” the affidavit states.

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The resident grabbed his firearm from the gun safe in the bedroom and showed it to his cousin — identified as Diego Diaz-Martinez, 31 — who was holding his daughter, deputies explained.

While checking out the firearm, Diaz-Martinez reportedly fired it into the wall, which is when the child could be heard crying in the living room, according to the affidavit.

“It should be noted while deputies were attempting to gather further details about what had occurred, various family members present stated they did not know what had occurred or were not wanting to speak,” the affidavit reads.

According to detectives, the injured child’s mother later reported that his tibia had been broken.

Diaz-Martinez faces charges of shooting into a dwelling, child neglect with great bodily harm, child neglect without great bodily harm, and using a firearm under the influence of alcohol.

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