LEBANON, Ind. — An East Chicago man has been arrested in the shooting that killed Izabella-Marie Helem, 4, in Lebanon, Nov. 29. Lebanon Police believe Darrell Marberry, 63, left a gun on the floor by the couch where he was sleeping. Marberry is charged with felony neglect of a dependent.
Police believe Helem’s brother picked up the gun and accidentally shot her, once in the shoulder and once in the head.
Marberry is the ex-husband of the grandmother with whom the kids were staying.
“He had been staying at the residence with his ex-wife,” Lebanon police Lt. Ben Phleps said. “Sleeping on the couch at night he would leave a handgun under the couch at night where he was sleeping.”
“That morning he had failed to secure the firearm when the kids got there, which resulted in the two-year-old boy being able to get a hold of the gun and fatally shoot his sister.”
Investigator’s are awaiting the autopsy results to determine which is the entrance wound and exit wound, as well as the bullet’s path of travel, said a news release.
Marberry is currently being lodged in the Lake County Jail awaiting extradition back to Boone County Jail on the warrant that was issued by Boone County Circuit Court.
PHOTO: Getty Images/Scott Olson
