8-Month-Old Boy Dies in Apparent Accidental Shooting Inside Home

An 8-month-old boy died Friday after he was shot in the head at his home.

The shooting appeared to be accidental, investigators from the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said. His mother, Shantae Molina, 20, was being interviewed about what had happened.

“It’s way too early to tell” what occurred, sheriff’s Lt. Joe Davis said. “All we know is we have an 8-month-old that’s been shot.”

Davis said Molina was hysterical when she called 911 just before 1 p.m. When deputies arrived, she was holding her son, Armani, and sobbing.

“The child was conscious, crying and moving,” Davis said.

The infant underwent surgery twice at Children’s Hospital in Mission Viejo but died Friday night.

Deputies were not sure how many family members were in the house at the time of the shooting, Davis said, but the entire family was home when police arrived. Molina and her son live with her mother and stepfather.

Davis said all family members are cooperating with the investigation.

Neighbor Rick Snider called the family “just fabulous, the nicest family you’d ever meet. Armani is a fabulous kid, the happiest baby you’d ever want to meet. He always had a smile, and those big brown eyes. . . . You want to cry inside.”

Neighbor Tammy Adkison said Molina was taking night classes at Saddleback College and had just quit a job at a Mervyn’s department store to spend more time with Armani.

Times staff writer Bonnie Harris Hayes and Times correspondent Chris Ceballos contributed to this story.