A pair of Lafayette, Indiana, parents are accused of neglect and drug possession after their five-year-old son, high on cocaine, shot his 16-month-old brother who was high on marijuana.

Parents Deonta Johnson, 27, and Shatia Welch, 24, were arrested in LaPorte, Indiana, on Monday, with charges against them being unsealed later in the week.

According to authorities, baby Isiah Johnson was shot by his elder brother on March 28, after the unnamed older boy got his hands on a handgun. Lafayette Police Department officers arrived on the scene at around 3 p.m., finding the baby dead from a gunshot wound to the head.

Subsequent testing found that the 16-month-old’s blood tested positive for marijuana, while the elder boy’s blood tested positive for cocaine.

Mr. Johnson, reportedly asleep before the shooting, changed his version of events several times while speaking to authorities about what happened, prosecutors claimed.

Ms. Welch was not present.

“Johnson then claimed he woke up on the couch, saw [the five-year-old] on the couch, heard a boom, took the marijuana to the car, went to Victim 1’s bedroom and found Victim 1 dead and called Welch,” according to a probable cause affidavit cited by the Lafayette Journal & Courier newspaper.

Ms. Welch, meanwhile, told authorities that the gun was hers, but that it was normally kept locked in a box under her bed. She also told them that she could not recall whether the safe had been locked, according to prosecutors.

In addition to the marijuana police claim was present in the apartment, Mr. Johnson and Ms. Welch are also accused of possessing marijuana paraphernalia apparently for sale.

Ms. Welch and Mr. Johnson now each face charges of neglect resulting in death, neglect resulting in bodily injury, two counts of neglect, conspiracy to deal narcotics, possession of narcotics, dealing a narcotic, conspiracy to deal marijuana, possession of marijuana, dealing marijuana, and possession of paraphernalia.

Mr. Johnson is also accused of obstruction of justice based on his purported removal of marijuana out of the family’s apartment before the police arrived.

• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.