WSVN — Was a 4-year-old boy used as a human shield by his own father? That’s what police say. But the child’s mother says she’s to blame. An update now on a case we first brought you on 7. Rosh Lowe has it in tonight’s edition of the Lowedown.
Dorphise Jean: "He has a whole life to live. I’ve been on this earth 28 years, I’m good. As long as he lives, that’s all I care about."
Rosh Lowe: "In four years, he has been through a lot."
Dorphise Jean: "Yes, he has. Yes, he has. He’s a solider."
Darnal Mundy is a survivor.
It was April 15th in Northeast Miami-Dade. Darnal Mundy Senior recorded a video as he sat with his son in a car. His ex-girlfriend called the cops.
Dorphise Jean: "We had a verbal altercation. That’s the one thing I don’t like. I’m a mother, you’re a father, don’t question my role."
Rosh Lowe: "You called the police?"
Dorphise Jean: "Yes. Because he didn’t get out of my vehicle."
Miami-Dade Police say once they arrived, Mundy refused to get out of the car, and things got tense.
Officer Joseph Cruz, Miami-Dade Police: "He leaned over to his left, and I saw the handle of a revolver sticking out of his pocket."
Joseph Cruz: "He reached down, grabbed the revolver and kept his hand on it. I pulled out my gun immediately and I yelled, ‘Gun.’"
The officer says once his gun was drawn, Mundy put his little boy in front of him using him as a human shield. Mundy’s attorney says his client did nothing wrong.
Yehuda Bruck, defense attorney: "At that point, there is no indication he was going to use the gun. He was a legal gun owner. The gun was in a position it was allowed to be. He should have been treated like anyone else who was pulled over and there was a gun in the car."
No gunshots were fired. Mundy was shocked with a Taser and arrested on child abuse charges.
Rosh Lowe: "From the police’s perspective, you have a 4-year-old child, you have a guy with a gun. Do you understand the concern?"
Dorphise Jean: "I understand their concern but it’s just the fact that, don’t say my son was being used as a shield. My son was not being used as a shield."
The bottom line. This child survived. And his survival is a huge part of his story.
This is the same little boy who made headlines in August when he shot himself in the face with his father’s gun that he found while looking for an iPad.
Doctors say this boy is a walking miracle. He shot himself in the face in August, and then in April, he finds himself in a dangerous situation but mom says she is to blame.
Rosh Lowe: "You realize you could have lost your son twice?"
Dorphise Jean: "It’s my fault. The first time, even though it’s his father’s gun, I’ll take the blame for it because it’s my child."
Rosh Lowe: "And you are taking the blame for this?"
Dorphise Jean: "Yes, I could have resolved this situation in a different matter."
She regrets calling the cops because now a court has ruled her child can not see his father.
Dorphise Jean: "They are going by the police report. He’s not allowed to see his son. I feel bad. It’s not fair."
Dorphise Jean: "Luck has not been on my side at all. The only luck I have is that my son is alive at the end of the day. But luck has not been on my side."
And now all she hopes is that her son can live a life free of danger, free of pain, free of heartbreak.
Dorphise Jean: "I’m not the perfect mother, but in his eyes, I am the perfect mom, and I am going to stand by him."
In Northeast Miami, Rosh Lowe 7News.