Through tears, mother pleads not guilty to manslaughter in son’s death

(George Rizer/Globe Staff)

By Maria Cramer, Globe Staff

Lakeisha Gadson, with tears streaming down her face, spoke only twice during her arraignment this morning, saying first that she was not guilty of involuntary manslaughter for the shooting of her 8-year-old son, Liquarry Jefferson.

Gadson, who wore a black pinstriped suit with a short-sleeve jacket, spoke a second time when court officers led her away in handcuffs.

"I'm sorry," she said as she sobbed.

Clerk Magistrate Gary D. Wilson ordered Gadson held on $10,000 cash bail, rejecting her lawyer’s argument that she was not a flight risk because she has lived her entire life in Boston.

Assistant District Attorney David A. Deakin said that Gadson knew that Liquarry’s half brother, Jayquan McConnico, had obtained an illegal gun and even approved of the teenager carrying it on occasion.

Deakin then described how Liquarry and his cousin were playing in McConnico’s room late on the night of June 24 when they found the semiautomatic pistol in a dresser. At the time, Liquarry’s 3-year-old sister was clamoring to get in the room, Deakin said.

Before the 3-year-old made her way inside, Liquarry's 7-year-old cousin took the pistol, which had no safety, and accidentally pulled the trigger, striking Liquarry in the abdomen, Deakin said. Liquarry died on an operating table at Boston Medical Center.

Gadson, 31, and McConnico, 16, were indicted earlier this week in what was described by Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley as a stunning failure to protect Liquarry. In addition to involuntary manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, Gadson was also charged with child endangerment, unlawful possession of a gun, and wantonly permitting bodily injury to a child. McConnico, who will be arraigned in Boston Juvenile Court on Monday, was also charged with misleading police and improperly storing a gun.

At today’s arraignment, several friends and relatives came to support Gadson, including Betty Collier of the Way Free Gospel Ministry in Boston.

“I’ve known her since she was a child,” said Collier, adding that Gadson did not deserve to be jailed before her trial.

It was difficult to watch Gadson standing all alone before the judge, Collier said.

“I wanted to go and stand with her,” she said.

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