Mother and brother charged in connection with Millwood student’s death in late September
By Jonathan Greco
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EDMOND, Oklahoma (KOCO) — A mother and brother have been charged in connection with the September death of a 12-year-old Millwood student.
Edmond police release new information in death of 12-year-old Millwood student Tyler Taffe, a Millwood Arts Academy student, died on Sept. 28 of a gunshot wound at an Edmond home.
Details released earlier this month showed that when Edmond police got to the scene, a woman came out of the house extremely upset. They later learned it was Taffe’s mother, and his older brother also ran outside.
Police went into the home and found Taffe with a gunshot wound. They performed CPR until medical help arrived, but he died.
An investigation showed that it appeared the 12-year-old accidentally shot himself while his brother was in another room.
An affidavit states that Taffe’s mother, Kershena Cotton, told investigators that she and two others, including Taffe’s 18-year-old brother Logan Walker, went to an Oklahoma City gun range on Sept. 10. She said there was no ammunition in their home and that they did not bring from the gun range.
Cotton also made sure the guns and magazines were empty and told Walker take the gun and magazines to her safe, according to the affidavit. Walker later admitted that he had kept additional ammunition from the gun range in his pocket and loaded one of the magazines with an unknown number of bullets when they returned home.
The affidavit also states that he didn’t remember Cotton telling him to put the gun in her safe and that he left it on his bedside table. The gun stayed there until the accidental shooting, according to the affidavit.
Court records show that Cotton and Walker have been charged with child neglect. Authorities say they left a loaded handgun out where Taffe could get it.
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