LAWRENCE — A newly released police affidavit says two Lawrence toddlers were briefly left alone before one of them was fatally shot.
One-year-old Autumn Grace Smith was killed in September 2017 at her family’s home in Lawrence. Her father, 32-year-old Chance Smith, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and two counts of aggravated endangerment of a child.
The Lawrence Journal-World reports Autumn and a 2-year-old were at the home. According to the affidavit, Smith told police he left the toddlers watching TV for 5 to 10 minutes to let his dogs out and smoke a cigarette.
When he returned, he found the boy crying and Autumn in his bedroom injured. He said he usually kept the gun in the closet but the night before had placed it under his bed’s mattress.
