MARYSVILLE — Snohomish County prosecutors have dropped felony charges against a Monroe prison lieutenant whose son got hold of her gun and shot himself with it.
In August, prosecutors noted Jennifer Wright, 40, had completed the requirements of a felony diversion program, allowing her to avoid prosecution in the death of her 12-year-old son, Branden McKinnon.
To participate in diversion, defendants must take responsibility for their crime and perform community service. They must also pay restitution and meet monthly with a counselor, among other requirements. The opportunity is only open to first-time felony offenders.
In 2021, Branden McKinnon had been struggling with school. His stepfather and Wright had been pressuring him to get his grades up, they told investigators. He had been feeling down because of it.
The stepfather told Marysville police Branden wore his heart on his sleeve, according to court papers. Going to class online during the COVID-19 pandemic only amplified that.
When Wright got home from work the night of May 19, 2021, she reportedly checked on her son. She thought he was sleeping. She wanted to give him space after an argument about his grades.
But when she checked again later that night, she found he’d shot himself, according to charging papers. Her 9 mm pistol was on the bed next to Branden’s electronics.
The stepfather told police the family had several guns, including one in the kitchen drawer. When he showed an officer where that gun should’ve been, it wasn’t there. The officer asked if they had a gun safe. The stepfather said they didn’t, deputy prosecutor Jarett Goodkin wrote in the charges.
Wright had taken her pistol out a previous night as she prepared to go to a search-and-rescue academy, she later told a detective. She said she put it back in the drawer, unloaded. She put ammunition in a different drawer.
Prosecutors charged Wright with first-degree unsafe firearm storage.
In late 2021, Branden McKinnon’s father, Jonathan, sued Wright over their son’s death. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount a few months later.
In an interview in 2022, Jonathan McKinnon described his son as the “perfect kid.” Branden played soccer, ran cross country and loved superheroes.
“He’s like the one kid where when he was 5, you could set a doughnut in front of him and he wouldn’t have touched it,” Jonathan McKinnon recalled. “You could walk out of the room and he won’t touch it.”
Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.
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