Mary Powers, mother of Robert Boviall, contacted us with concerns about her son’s death near Mattoon, Illinois. He was shot by in his friend’s home when he was showing Robert one of his father’s many guns. In fact, the father had 17 loaded, unlocked guns in his home, and the father was not a valid FOID card holder, required for gun ownership in Illinois. Questions remain about the actual circumstances of the shooting, but the juvenile friend has not been charged at all with a crime, and the father has only been charged with minor offenses of possessing weapons without a FOID card. The family is seeking legal advice about a wrongful death suit, but are most concerned about the most minimal charges that the States Attorneys in that county are seeking against the Father. The devastated family does not feel justice is being done in their case.
Here is coverage of the case from the downstate Illinois newspaper, The Herald and Review:
Greenup teen killed in accidental shooting
By HERB MEEKER and NATHANIEL WEST — H&R Staff Writers
GREENUP – A 15-year-old boy was killed Thursday by the accidental discharge of a revolver while he and two friends were checking whether the gun was loaded, Coles County Coroner Mike Nichols said Friday.
Robert Donald Boviall Jr. of Greenup was pronounced dead at 6:04 p.m. Thursday at Sarah Bush Lincoln Health Center in Coles County about a half an hour after he suffered a head wound from a .22 caliber pistol. The shooting occurred at the home of Boviall’s friend, south of Greenup in Cumberland County.
“They were checking to see if the gun was empty. He was in the line of fire when the hammer dropped,” Nichols said.
An autopsy performed at Springfield Memorial Hospital on Friday confirmed the accidental nature of Boviall’s death as established by Illinois State Police Crime Scene Services and ISP Zone 7 Investigations.
Boviall was a sophomore at Cumberland High School.
According to Russell Ragon, superintendent of the Cumberland School District, school officials learned about the accident during a board meeting Thursday night and quickly assembled a team of counselors through the district’s special education cooperative.
Eight outside counselors, along with the high school guidance counselor, were available on the school campus when students arrived Friday morning, according to Ragon.
“They’re great in a time of crisis,” he said. “This is a pretty tough time.”
Meanwhile, a local pastor voluntarily organized an impromptu service outside the school before classes began Friday. Ragon said a large number of students attended this “little memorial and silent prayer time.”
“It was pretty awesome to see our kids, the way they responded to that, how many of them went out.
“There’s a lot of support out there,” Ragon said.
Herb Meeker can be reached at hmeeker@jg-tc.com or 238-6869.