A Gainesville man was arrested after shooting and injuring an infant and the infant’s father Tuesday night, Gainesville Police said.
Darrell J. Wilson, 26, shot at the father and 1-year-old child after an argument started outside of Wilson’s East Gainesville home, GPD spokesperson Officer Ben Tobias said. The mother and father were dropping off the infant in Wilson’s care at about 10 p.m.
When the father, Torrance Lee, was kissing and hugging the child in his car, Wilson became offended and grabbed the infant out of the father’s hands, according to a press release. As Wilson walked away with the infant, the father got out of his car and asked what was wrong, Tobias said.
The mother took her child out of Wilson’s hands and gave the infant to the father. Wilson, who keeps a gun on him at all times, pulled out the handgun and shot twice, hitting both the father and child, Tobias said.
“I cannot believe, I can’t understand, can’t fathom why someone would look anywhere toward the direction of a child, an infant, a baby, and make the decision to pull the trigger,” Tobias said. “That is absolutely barbaric. Had it just been a few inches one way or another, there would have been a dead infant on scene. I’m so thankful as a father that this kid is still alive.”
The father was shot in the abdomen, and the child was shot in the face. Both were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries, Tobias said. Police found Wilson and the gun in his home, and he was arrested without resisting.
Wilson told police he had shot at the father out of self defense because the father had a mean look on his face, according to an arrest report. Wilson was charged with attempted murder.
Tobias said Wilson had babysat for the mother and father before and was possibly in, or had been, in a relationship with the mother. The Florida Department of Children and Families will run a parallel investigation with police.
Wilson was taken to the Alachua County Jail where he remains in lieu of a $500,000 bond.
Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter at @merylkornkornfield.
Darrell J. Wilson
