A Flint man, who was the first person in Michigan charged with violating the state’s new firearms safe storage law after his toddler daughter was shot in the head in 2024, has been sentenced to prison.
Michael Tolbert, 46, was sentenced on multiple charges Monday, Nov. 10, in Genesee County Circuit Court. On the most serious, he received a sentence of roughly nine to 25 years to be followed by two additional years on gun charges, according to online court records. He received credit for 183 days already spent in jail.
Tolbert pleaded no contest in September to second-degree child abuse, which was amended from first-degree child abuse, and eight other charges, including several felony firearms offenses. For a plea of no contest, prosecutors agreed to the amended child abuse charge, according to court records.
Messages were left Thursday, Nov. 13, for Tolbert’s attorney, who could not be reached for comment.
Tolbert was charged after his daughter was shot in the head on Valentine’s Day in 2024, one day after the new law took effect.
Skye McBride turned 5 in mid-October, according to an Oct. 16 update in an online fundraiser, where a photo of her as a newborn was shared and where two dozen posts have provided updates on her progress and medical journey, which has included surgeries and wearing a leg brace and prosthetic eye.
“This has not been an easy journey for our family, but we are beyond grateful that our miracle girl is still here with us today,” it read. “Please continue to keep Skye in your prayers, and if you can, do what so many of you did last year, send her a birthday card to remind her how loved she truly is.”The post added: “Every smile, card, and prayer means the world. Thank you all for standing with us through this journey. And as always #SkyeStrong.”
A Sept. 9 post showed the smiling girl with a bulge on her forehead above her right eye. The update indicated that was a screw bulging out and that she was going to see her Detroit neurologist to determine whether surgery would be performed. It mentioned Tolbert taking a plea, saying: “This has brought up more trauma for our family as you can imagine. Please continue praying. We appreciate it.”
A media advisory ahead of a February 2024 news conference indicated the girl accidentally shot herself in the face with Tolbert’s loaded handgun.
At a news conference, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said Flint police officers were sent to Hurley Medical Center in Flint on Feb. 14, 2024, regarding a shooting victim who was brought to the hospital in a personal vehicle. They learned the girl had a gunshot wound to her head, he said.
Police spoke with Tolbert, who took her to the hospital, Leyton said.
At that time, Leyton said, a search warrant was executed at a home in Flint, where blood was found on the living room floor and couch, with blood appearing to come from the front bedroom. In the bedroom, he said, investigators saw blood and brain matter on the floor, with blood next to a small, toddler-sized folding chair.
Leyton said two firearms, a revolver and a semiautomatic pistol, were on the bed, both unsecured and loaded with live ammunition. He said the pistol had a live round in the chamber and multiple live rounds in the magazine; the revolver had one spent casing and additional live ammunition inside of it. There were no gun locks or safes inside the front bedroom, Leyton had said, and investigators found a single bullet hole in the drywall ceiling.
Leyton said that, per medical center staff, the bullet entered Skye’s right eye and exited through the back of her skull.
Several metro Detroit parents were sentenced earlier this year on charges under the new law after their young sons shot themselves. Law enforcement authorities repeatedly have encouraged gun owners to use gun locks to secure their weapons, a process that they say takes seconds but can save lives.
Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on X: @challreporter.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Flint father sentenced to prison after young daughter shot in head
Reporting by Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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