Complaint: Milwaukee man charged after gun discharges, striking 5-year-old girl

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- A Milwaukee man has been charged in a shooting that injured a 5-year-old girl Monday, July 17.

A criminal complaint says 26-year-old Terrell Moore was at his apartment near 85th and Brown Deer when the incident occurred. Prosecutors say Moore shares the residence with his fiancé and her three children. 

The complaint says Moore went to the mail room of his apartment complex to get a package and returned to open it. He sat down on the floor in the bedroom, laying his firearm down on the floor to the right of him before deciding to put the gun away. When he went to move it, the firearm went off, striking his fiancé's 5-year-old niece who was lying on the floor near him.

Prosecutors say the child was treated at Children's Wisconsin for an injury to her earlobe and a graze wound behind her ear. 

When interviewed by authorities Moore said he must have grabbed the gun "too rough" because it discharged. He said he did not intentionally pull the trigger. He went on to say he stores the gun in an empty television box and does not have a firearm case with a lock and was never shown the proper usage and handling of the firearm.

Moore is charged with injury by negligent handling of a dangerous weapon.

A signature bond has been set at $10,000. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 31.