Child Endangerment Charge Filed After 2-Year-Old Boy Shot In Face

MINNEAPOLIS — A Minneapolis man faces weapons and child endangerment charges after a 2-year-old boy was shot in the face Monday.

The boy suffered a "through and through gunshot wound" to his cheek and was hospitalized in critical condition, according to the criminal complaint. He is now listed in stable condition. It's not clear from charging documents how exactly the boy was shot.

Kendall Hampton, 36, could get up to 15 years in prison and a $30,000 fine if he is convicted.

Just after 4:30 a.m., Minneapolis police officers from the first precinct responded to the report of a child bleeding from his face at a home on the 1500 block of Lasalle Avenue. Hampton told police that when he went to sleep after a night that involved drinking, he left his gun on the windowsill next to his bed, according to the criminal complaint.

Hampton and a woman in the apartment woke up to the sounds of the 2-year-old boy screaming and crying, police said.

Hampton is not allowed to possess a firearm due to a prior conviction.