Uncle, 18, charged in shooting of 1-year-old girl at Columbus apartments

A man has been charged in the July 15 shooting of 1-year-old girl in an apartment complex near downtown Columbus, police said Thursday.

Kevin Bailey, 18, was charged with second-degree cruelty to children and reckless conduct in the shooting reported about 1 p.m. at 636 Sixth Ave., detectives said.

Police said Bailey is the child’s uncle. He surrendered to police Wednesday after warrants were issued for him, police Sgt. Joe Bridges wrote in a news release.

Bailey was booked into the Muscogee County Jail at 4:33 p.m. Wednesday and released on bond about three hours later, according to jail records.

The girl wounded in the shooting first was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to one in Atlanta. She had been listed in critical condition, officers said, but no information on her current condition was available Thursday.

Tim Chitwood

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

706-571-8508

Tim Chitwood is from Seale, Alabama, and started as a police beat reporter with the Ledger-Enquirer in 1982. He since has covered Columbus’ serial killings and other homicides, following some from the scene of the crime to trial verdicts and ensuing appeals. He also has been a Ledger-Enquirer humor columnist since 1987. He’s a graduate of Auburn University, and started out working for the weekly Phenix Citizen in Phenix City, Ala.