A suburban Atlanta father has been charged with second-degree murder and cruelty to children after police said his 2-year-old son pulled a loaded handgun from the father’s fanny pack during nap time and shot himself, a tragedy investigators described as the result of a weapon left unsecured.
The death of River Willis has drawn intense attention in the Atlanta area because authorities say the child was sent into a bedroom where the gun was accessible and because the account in arrest warrants describes only minutes between a routine afternoon at home and a fatal shot. The case is now moving through Fulton County courts as prosecutors prepare to argue that the father’s choices amounted to criminal negligence, while family members, through the father’s attorney and a public fundraising page, have described the shooting as an accident and mourned the loss of a child they called joyful and curious.
Police said officers were dispatched about 2 p.m. on Wednesday to an apartment complex in the 2600 block of Sandalwood Drive after reports of a shooting. When officers entered the apartment, they found River Willis suffering from a gunshot wound, according to the account summarized in court records and local reports. Paramedics were called, but the child was pronounced dead. Richard Lee Willis, the child’s father, was arrested later the same day, authorities said, and booked into the Fulton County jail. Investigators have not accused anyone else of firing the gun, and the charges focus on how the firearm was stored and how the moments leading up to the shooting unfolded inside the apartment.
According to arrest warrants and an affidavit described in multiple reports, Willis and his wife had returned home from a medical visit earlier that day. Investigators said Willis removed a fanny pack that contained a loaded 9mm pistol and placed it on a bed in the master bedroom. River was sent upstairs for a nap with a cellphone, authorities said, and he later came downstairs to tell his father the phone had died. The child asked his father to lie down with him until he fell asleep, according to the warrants. Instead, investigators said, Willis told the boy to go back upstairs to the master bedroom and wait for him, telling him he would follow in a few minutes. Minutes later, Willis told police, he heard a gunshot and ran upstairs.
When Willis entered the room, investigators said, he found the fanny pack open and the pistol near the child’s leg. River had a gunshot wound to his face, according to the warrants. Authorities said the child had removed the gun from the fanny pack and fired it. Prosecutors allege the father’s conduct caused “cruel and excessive physical pain” and that leaving the loaded weapon within reach of a toddler amounted to criminal negligence. Police have not released detailed forensic findings on the gun beyond describing it as a 9mm pistol, and they have not publicly said whether the firearm was stored with a round in the chamber, whether a safety was engaged, or whether investigators recovered any surveillance footage or in-home video that captured the moments before the shooting.
The case is being handled under Georgia charges that can apply even when a death is not alleged to be intentional. Second-degree murder in Georgia generally centers on causing a death through the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, a felony that can involve criminal negligence leading to excessive physical or mental pain. In this case, authorities have said Willis is charged with second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children, framing the alleged wrongdoing as a failure to secure the firearm and a decision to direct the child into the room where it was kept. Investigators have said Willis knew the gun was stored in the fanny pack and that the child was aware of that, a detail prosecutors may use to argue the risk was foreseeable. Defense lawyers are expected to challenge whether the facts meet the legal standard and to press for bond as the case moves forward.
Willis remained in custody in the days after the shooting, and a judge did not immediately set bond at his initial hearing, according to local coverage. His attorney, Clint Rucker, told the court that relatives wanted him to convey their grief and support. “The family wanted me to express their profound thoughts and prayers for the loss of baby River,” Rucker said, adding that they favored bond. Court officials have not announced a trial date, and early steps are expected to include bond hearings, discovery exchanges, and potential motions over what evidence will be presented and how the circumstances of the child’s death will be described to a jury.
The public details of the case have emerged largely through arrest warrants and affidavits, which often provide a snapshot of an investigation at an early stage. Authorities have not publicly released a full narrative from the police department beyond the warrant allegations, and they have not identified a timeline for additional records, such as body-worn camera video, 911 calls, or a medical examiner’s report. In child firearm cases, investigators typically document the scene, collect the weapon and any ammunition, interview family members and witnesses, and determine how the child accessed the gun. They also commonly review whether the firearm was lawfully possessed, whether it was reported stolen, and whether it was stored in a way that violated state laws or local ordinances. Officials have not publicly discussed those issues in this case beyond the central claim that the gun was left accessible inside the bedroom.
River’s mother has also spoken publicly through a fundraising page, describing her son as bright and full of energy and portraying the father as deeply involved in the child’s daily life. In the statement, she wrote that if River asked to play, his father would “drop everything,” and she described the family as trying to move forward after a sudden loss. Investigators have not indicated whether the mother faces any charges, and officials have not said whether another child was present in the home at the time of the shooting, though family statements have referred to a surviving child. Police have not released the mother’s name in official statements, and the family’s public comments have focused on grief and on honoring River’s life.
The shooting happened in Sandy Springs, a city in north Fulton County that sits just outside Atlanta and includes large apartment communities and busy commercial corridors. The address in court records places the incident in a residential complex near major roads used by commuters, a setting where emergency responders often arrive quickly but still must navigate the challenges of a chaotic scene. Neighbors described distress and heavy police presence after the shooting, according to local coverage, while investigators worked inside the apartment and officers secured the area. Authorities have not said whether any neighbors heard an argument or saw unusual activity before the gunshot, and they have not suggested the incident involved a dispute.
The case has also reignited debate over how quickly children can reach and operate firearms when guns are left unsecured in homes. Law enforcement agencies across the country regularly warn that small children can find a weapon in a bag, drawer, or nightstand faster than adults expect, and that a split-second lapse can turn routine family moments into an emergency. In this case, prosecutors are expected to focus on the allegation that the father placed a loaded gun in a portable bag on a bed and then directed the child toward that room. Defense arguments, if presented, may emphasize the absence of intent to harm and the family’s description of the event as accidental, while still facing the legal question of whether the storage and decisions amounted to criminal negligence under state law.
Investigators have not said whether Willis made any statements beyond the account attributed to him in the warrants, and they have not released details about whether he called 911 himself or whether another person placed the emergency call. They also have not disclosed whether the firearm belonged to Willis, whether it was legally purchased, or whether any paperwork showed the weapon was carried for work or personal protection. Those details can become important in court as attorneys argue what safety steps were taken, what risks were known, and whether the situation met the threshold for felony charges rather than lesser offenses. Police have said only that the gun was in the father’s fanny pack and that it was loaded when the child accessed it.
The legal road ahead is expected to include a bond hearing before a superior court judge, along with possible hearings on evidence and statements. Prosecutors will likely rely on the warrant narrative, scene evidence, and expert testimony about firearm handling and child access to prove their case. Defense attorneys may seek to narrow the allegations, challenge the wording of the warrants, and argue that criminal charges are inappropriate for what the family calls a tragic accident. Any trial, if it occurs, would require jurors to weigh a painful set of facts involving a small child and to decide whether the father’s actions crossed from negligence into criminal conduct as defined by Georgia law.
For now, the case remains centered on what investigators say happened in a short span of time: a fanny pack placed on a bed, a toddler sent into a room, and a gunshot heard moments later. Willis remained jailed as of the most recent court proceedings reported by local media, and the next milestone is expected to be a bond hearing and the filing of formal charging documents as prosecutors move the case toward indictment review.
Author note: Last updated February 23, 2026.