Dearborn Toddler Shootings: Couple Charged With Child Abuse

DEARBORN, MI — A Dearborn couple has been charged with multiple child abuse and felony firearm charges in connection with the Sept. 27 shootings of two toddlers in their unlicensed daycare.

Timothy and Samantha Eubanks are expected to turn themselves into Dearborn Police Thursday morning and then be arraigned at 19th District Court, Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said in a statement.

Timothy Eubanks is charged with six counts of second degree child abuse while Samantha Eubanks is facing 12 counts of second degree child abuse and two counts of felony firearm. The shootings happened the morning of Sept. 27 in the couple's Harding Street home.

The Eubanks six children have been removed from the home and have been placed with relatives, Worthy said. "I will continue to state emphatically and often that it is extremely dangerous to have firearms in a home accessible to children,” she said.

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Timothy Eubanks left his Dearborn home with two handguns unsecured in an upstairs bedroom, Worthy said. The prosecutor alleges that Samantha Eubanks also knew the handguns were there.

Samantha Eubanks was on the first floor of the home watching six children when the shooting occurred, Worthy said. The prosecutor said that one of Eubanks’ 3-year-old sons went upstairs, found a gun in the bedroom and then shot one 3-year-old boy in the face and another 3-year-old in the shoulder.

Dearborn Police were called moments after the shootings. The injured children were taken to local hospitals for treatment. The boy shot in the shoulder has been released while the 3-year-old shot in the face remains hospitalized, Worthy said.

Charges against Timothy Eubanks are for leaving loaded firearms accessible to his six children, Worthy said. Samantha Eubanks is being charged with with two counts of second degree child abuse and two counts of felony firearm in connection with the two 3-year-olds that were shot.

She is also being charged with four counts of second degree child abuse with respect to the children who were not shot but were receiving daycare services at the home, Worthy said.

Samantha Eubanks is charged with six counts of second degree child abuse with respect to her own six children.

Meanwhile, The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is investigating Samantha and Tim Eubanks for running an unlicensed child care facility. Any actions against the Eubanks for running an unlicensed child care would be taken after LARA completes its own investigation.

File Photos (Scott Daniel/Patch Staff)