By JORDAN OWEN
Chicago Sun-Times Wire
Michael Santiago | Chicago Police
A man who faced charges after his 6-year-old son found a loaded gun and accidentally killed his 3-year-old brother Eian H. Santiago last year in their Humboldt Park apartment has been sentenced to probation.
Michael Santiago, 26, pleaded guilty Monday to endangering the life or health of a child before Judge Alfredo Maldonado, according to Cook County court records.
Santiago bought a revolver to protect himself after the former gang member testified at a murder trial, prosecutors said last year. He did not have a concealed carry license or an FOID card.
Santiago’s 6-year-old son got his hands on the gun in the family’s apartment in the 1000 block of North Francisco just after 9 p.m. Oct. 17, 2015. He accidentally shot his 3-year-old brother as the toddler ate a bowl of macaroni and cheese, authorities said.
Eian Santiago | Facebook
The boys were under the supervision of their grandfather, who was in an upstairs apartment when he heard the shot.
The grandfather carried Eian from the apartment about a block to Norwegian American Hospital. Eian was later transferred to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he died.
Michael Santiago had warned his elder son that the Smith & Wesson .32-caliber revolver—bundled in a pair of pajama pants atop the refrigerator in the garden apartment—was to be handled “only by adults,” prosecutors said.
Police said the boy was playing cops and robbers when he fired the gun.
Judge Maldonado sentenced Santiago to two years probation, according to court records. He had been released on bond in the days following the shooting.