{"id":222285,"date":"2026-04-07T18:01:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222285\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T18:01:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T18:01:28","slug":"tallahassee-man-charged-in-accidental-shooting-death-of-3-year-old-son","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/222285\/","title":{"rendered":"Tallahassee man charged in accidental shooting death of 3-year-old son"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Tallahassee man was arrested in connection with the accidental death last year of his 3-year-old son who shot himself with his father’s gun<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Kadeem Thomas, 33, was arrested April 6 on a charge of culpable negligence in the death of his son, Kane Thomas, and booked into the Leon County Detention Facility, according to court records.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe has raised thousands of dollars for the mother of Kane Josiah Amir Thomas, 3, who was shot and killed Nov. 9, 2025.<\/p>\n

On Nov. 9, 2025, Leon County Sheriff’s Office deputies were called to a residence in the 4000 block of Augustus Oak Court in reference to a shooting. The little boy died at the scene, and a loaded .40 caliber semi-automatic handgun was found near the boy’s body on a sofa.<\/p>\n

Thomas opted not to make any statements at the time, though he said in a 911 call that his son had “shot himself.” Several days after the shooting, Thomas and his attorney met with investigators for a recorded interview at the Sheriff’s Office.<\/p>\n

He said he was hanging out with friends the night of the shooting and put the boy to bed around 11:45 p.m. After his friends left, he said he took a shower, made some food and smoked marijuana before falling asleep on the couch.<\/p>\n

“He advised prior to falling asleep he placed the firearm which had been ‘tucked in the couch’ on the sofa seat next to him,” the arrest report says. “He awoke to a ‘pop’ sound and felt Kane beside him on the sofa. He stood up and grabbed Kane’s face and observed his ‘eyes roll back.’ “<\/p>\n

Under questioning, Thomas said he kept the gun in the sofa because he “used to be a knucklehead,” according to the arrest report. He admitted storing the gun that way was not a good idea and “having it out like that was not safe,” the report says.<\/p>\n

Under Florida statutes, anyone who leaves a firearm “within the reach or easy access of a minor” who uses it to inflict injury or death on himself or others commits culpable negligence, a third-degree felony punishable by up to five years in prison.<\/p>\n

Leon County Judge Stefanie Newlin set bond at $25,000 on April 7 during his first court appearance. She also ordered him to surrender any firearms within four hours of his release, follow a Florida Department of Children and Families case plan and have no unsupervised contact with minors.<\/p>\n

Kane remembered as a ‘radiant light.’<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe<\/a> organized on behalf of Kane’s mother after his death raised more than $22,000. Kane’s loved ones say he had an “old soul in a young body,” and that they will “forever hold him in their hearts.”<\/p>\n

“From the beginning, Kane was a bright light – radiant, joyful, and full of life. His talkative nature and magnetic personality drew everyone in; truly, he never met a stranger. Kane possessed a rare gift – an old soul in a young body,” his obituary state. “He had a natural understanding of people and showed compassion well beyond his years, always checking to make sure those around him were okay.”<\/p>\n

According to the obituary, Kane adored dinosaurs, pizza, and all sorts of animals, and his laughter could fill any room.\u00a0He was a student at Brownsville Preparatory Institute, and “had a way of making every moment feel like everything is wonderful.”<\/p>\n

“Kane’s light, though brief on this earth, was immeasurable. His joy, kindness, and laughter will forever echo in the hearts of all who knew and loved him.”<\/p>\n

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Tallahassee man charged in accidental shooting death of son<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Tallahassee man was arrested in connection with the accidental death last year of his 3-year-old son who…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[30114,100674,100673,40843,232,234,233],"class_list":{"0":"post-222285","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tallahassee","8":"tag-culpable-negligence","9":"tag-kadeem-thomas","10":"tag-kane-thomas","11":"tag-leon-county-sheriff","12":"tag-tallahassee","13":"tag-tallahassee-headlines","14":"tag-tallahassee-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}