Henrico mom wants accountability after son’s death: 'Put your gun up’'

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — “Mama Bear” wasn’t just a phrase for Monique Richardson. She said she was her 5-year-old son Qatif’s fiercest protector.

“He was nonverbal. He couldn't talk, and no one understood him but me,” Richardson said.

When he wasn’t learning at Highland Springs Elementary School, Richardson said Qatif could often be found watching YouTube on his iPad.

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But on Saturday, Oct. 24, his iPad lost its charge shortly before mother and son left to run errands.

Their first stop was Roses, where Richardson said Qatif quickly spotted one of his favorites.

“We went to Roses. He saw the M&M’s. He loved the M&M’s,” Richardson recalled. “He grabbed it as soon as he seen it.”

At the register, Richardson remembers a cashier commenting on how much Qatif looked like his mother.

“The lady said, ‘That’s your son.’ I say, ‘Yeah, how you know?’” Richardson recalled. “She said, ‘He looked just like you.’ I said, ‘I know. Everybody tell me that.’”

It would be one of Richardson’s final ordinary moments with her son.

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Later, Richardson went to an apartment complex in eastern Henrico for a beauty appointment at a friend’s apartment.

Richardson said Steven Blakeney let her and Qatif inside and saw that her 5-year-old son was with her.

Richardson said she was preparing to pay her friend when everything changed.

“I’m taking the stuff out my pocketbook. Asked her, ‘Do she got Apple Pay?’ Next thing I heard was ‘boom,’ and my son was on the floor in a puddle of blood,” Richardson said through tears.

According to Henrico Police, Qatif accidentally shot himself with Blakeney’s gun. The 5-year-old did not survive.

Police charged Blakeney with two misdemeanors: improper storage of firearms and allowing access to firearms by children.

Richardson cannot understand why the weapon was allegedly left where her son could reach it.

“You saw my son with me,” she said. “Why the (expletive) you didn’t grab the gun? Like, put your gun up. Like, why you leave your gun in the open on a couch? Like, why? Like, why you was careless and reckless with your gun?”

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On Thursday, a judge granted Blakeney a $10,000 bond. His bond conditions include having no firearms, being placed on home electronic monitoring, and having no contact with anyone under 18.

CBS 6 legal analyst Todd Stone said bond is not unusual given that Blakeney is facing misdemeanor charges.

He said the purpose of bond is to ensure someone comes back to court and not to punish them.

But for Richardson, knowing Blakeney can spend the holidays with his family is especially painful.

“My son is no longer here,” she said. “My son ain’t here. Not here for the holidays. He get to be with his family for the holidays.”

As the case moves forward, Richardson hopes Qatif’s story will make other gun owners think about how they store their weapons.

“I want my son back. I can’t get my son back,” Richardson said. “I miss my son every day. It’s hard for me. Like sometimes I do feel like giving up, but I got three other kids. I just want my son back.”