In a heart-wrenching incident in Ohio, a two-year-old accidentally ended the lives of his mother and unborn sibling last week. This occurred when the toddler found his father’s gun in a drawer and unintentionally discharged it, hitting his mother.
Laura Ilg, the 31-year-old mother, was able to call for help after she was struck. She told emergency services that her toddler had inadvertently fired the gun, hitting her in the back. When the police arrived at the Ilg residence in Norwalk, they had to force the front door open. Inside, they found the injured mother and her toddler in an upstairs bedroom.
She was immediately transported to Fisher-Titus Medical Center. Despite doctors’ best efforts to save both mother and child through an emergency caesarean section, neither Laura nor her unborn baby survived the incident, as confirmed by Police Chief David Smith on Tuesday.
The fatal weapon, owned by Laura’s husband, Alek Ilg, was typically stored in the couple’s bedside drawer. Laura shared with the police before her unfortunate passing that she always locked their bedroom door and installed multiple baby gates around the house to ensure her toddler’s safety.
However, on this tragic day, it appears one gate may have been inadvertently left open.
While Laura was doing laundry, her toddler managed to enter the bedroom and began to interact with the gun. She expressed to the officers that she was unaware her son had the gun until she was suddenly hit by a bullet from behind.
Alek Ilg, who was at work during the tragic incident, posted a heart-rending tribute to his wife and unborn son on Facebook.
Currently, Alek Ilg is taking care of their surviving son. The police are carrying out further investigations into the tragic incident, particularly focusing on how the toddler managed to fire the weapon.