Channelview Man Arrested After Toddler Shot in Head by Young Child

A gunshot rang out from a bedroom at a home in the 700 block of Onaleigh Drive while seven adults sat eating lunch in the living room. When they rushed in, they found a 2-year-old boy with a head wound and a 4-year-old holding the gun.

The Friday afternoon shooting, which occurred around 12:14 p.m. in Channelview just north of I-10 outside Beltway 8, sent the toddler by Life Flight to a hospital in critical condition. He underwent surgery in the ICU. By Friday evening, the child's grandfather, Juan, said the toddler's mother confirmed the boy is now in recovery.

Harris County Sheriff's Office investigators arrested Santiago Daniel Canet, 25, hours after the shooting and charged him with making a firearm accessible to a minor under Texas Penal Code §46.13. Canet, a family friend visiting from out of town, owned the gun. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez announced the charge Friday night; Canet was booked into the Harris County Jail.

Juan told reporters that while everyone was eating, his wife ran to the bedroom and found the scene. "My wife, she went to my room, freaked out, screaming, loud like call 911, she cannot even talk, she had blood on all her, on her clothes," he said. Juan added that the gun normally belonged to Canet and was kept in a higher spot, indicating it had been moved before the children accessed it.

Investigators found the 4-year-old holding the firearm, but it remained unclear which of the two children actually discharged the weapon. Family members moved the gun to a vehicle before deputies arrived; all seven adults stayed on scene and cooperated with the investigation.

Harris County Sheriff's Major Ben Katrib addressed the public from the scene: "It's always important to secure the firearm for anyone who is thinking about buying a firearm that does not have one. If you have children or children might visit your home, they are spontaneous, they are curious. So if you do not have enough money to buy a safe or anything to secure the handgun or any firearm, then you should not buy it."

Under Texas law, making a firearm accessible to a child is typically a Class C misdemeanor with a maximum $500 fine. When the child discharges the weapon and causes serious bodily injury, the charge rises to a Class A misdemeanor, which applies in this case. The statute has not been amended since 1999.

The shooting reflects a documented and worsening pattern across Harris County. Houston's Level I trauma centers treated 991 firearm injuries in 2024; more than 200 were unintentional, and roughly half involved children and young adults under 24, amounting to about one child per week according to data from the SAFEWatch Houston dashboard. Just three months earlier, in January 2026, a 3-year-old accidentally shot an off-duty Harris County Sheriff's deputy in the hand at a Spring home. Constable Precinct 4's Medina called that incident "completely preventable" and urged gun owners to use lock boxes or gun locks in any home where children could be present.