NC man charged after 10-year-old stepson accidentally shoots himself in face

Deputies were dispatched to a home in Sampson County around 7 p.m. Before first responders could get to the scene, family members put the boy in a car and started driving toward Clinton to take him to a hospital.

A deputy intercepted the car and rendered first aid until emergency crews arrived. They eventually took the injured boy to a landing zone where he was flown to a trauma center.

Deputies said the child's father, 31-year-old Jeffrey Lee Newton Jr., told them he and his son were walking when the he heard a gunshot and saw his son fall.

He carried the child back to their home and called for help.

But Friday, deputies said they determined the child shot himself after Newton allowed him to have access to a firearm.

Newton is charged with permitting a child to have access/use of a firearm and contributing to the delinquency of a juvenile.

He was placed in the Sampson County Detention Center under a $5,000.00 bond. Additional charges could be filed.

The child was in stable condition at UNC Hospitals.