NEWAYGO COUNTY, Mich — The father of the five-year-old boy police said was shot and killed by his six-year-old cousin in Newaygo County said his son's death could have been prevented if the adults in the home had followed proper gun safety.
"He was like a little jokester. He liked running around. Liked making people laugh, just being a weirdo. Definitely a little Daredevil, loved spending time with his sister," said the father, Domynic Dykstra.
The shooting of five-year-old Braxton Dykstra happened on April 1 in Garfield Township in the home of his grandparents on his mother's side.
"And my daughter, it just hit her last night that my son will never be back. She understood that, you know, he, he was dead. But last night, I held her tight because she told me that she couldn't sleep without her Bobby. And so I held her tight. And I told her, I wish I could bring them back," said Dykstra.
The boys father said the children were not playing with the gun leading up to the shooting. He said Braxton was in the room watching TV with his sister.
"My son sat down on the floor right underneath his sister, started watching TV. And the six-year-old cousin shut the door. And there's a shotgun, 12 gauge shotgun behind the door. And he pointed it at my son and said 'I was going to shoot you.' That's when my daughter went to get up, go tell her grandpa, and she didn't make it out the door," said Dykstra.
The father said he believes the 6-year-old's mother and the grandparents should be held accountable.
"Should the mother do more time? Yes, absolutely. She failed her child. Did not teach him discipline. You know, but the, like I said the father-in-law. Definitely. He left he's the one that left the gun out. He said it was unloaded. But my son would still be here if it was unloaded," said Dykstra.
This incident comes after a state law went into effect in February requiring gun owners to store weapons unloaded and locked in the presence of minors.
"February 13th, That law was passed up to 15 years in prison with $10,000 fine if a minor grabs a hold of a gun owners gun and kill somebody with it. So yes, I do think that this definitely should, you know, this needs to be pressed, this shouldn't be swept under the rug. But my son was the first one to have to find this," said Dykstra.
If anything comes from this tragedy, he wants people to hear the message that guns should be secure and out of the reach of children.
"If you have guns and you know, you got kids coming over, just put them up, out of sight, out of sight out of mind," said Dykstra.
The father said this whole incident could have been prevented if his son's grandparents were more attentive and if the gun had been stored safely.
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