Mother sentenced in shooting death of 4-year-old outside Manitou Springs dispensary

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A judge sentenced 26-year-old Ashlynne Perez to one year in prison and two years of probation after she pleaded guilty to two charges following her 4-year-old son's death outside a Manitou Springs marijuana dispensary.

Court documents reveal the little boy accidentally shot himself after unbuckling his car seat and climbing into the front seat of his family's car. His father had loaded his gun and set it on an "open dashboard cubby" in the front seat before walking into Maggie's Farm, where weapons are not allowed.

Perez was sitting in the front seat when her son climbed out of the back seat but said she was looking away when he grabbed the gun and pulled the trigger. Her 3-year-old son was in the back seat when the shooting happened. No one else was injured.

The boy's father was also charged initially with child abuse resulting in death, but the charge was dropped last fall. The DA's office would not comment on why the father's charge was dropped.

Ashlynne Perez pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death and criminally negligent homicide in early January. Court documents also revealed that the parents were aware that the little boy had a history of trying to play with guns.