Previously convicted felon charged with federal gun violation after fatal shooting of 3-year-old child

DALLAS - United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Ryan Raybould announced that a Dallas man has been arrested and charged by criminal complaint with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, following the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old child at a Dallas residence on Oct.11.

Jerald Ray Joseph Aplon was arrested on Monday, Nov. 9. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance in federal court today.

"Leaving a loaded firearm within reach of small children is unconscionable," said U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould. "This defendant had no legal right to possess firearms because he was a convicted felon. Because of this defendant's recklessness, a child is now dead. We cannot undo this family's heartbreak, but we will bring the full weight of the law against anyone who endangers our children."

"There is no excuse for a convicted felon to possess firearms, especially when those weapons are left loaded and unsecured where children can reach them," said ATF Dallas Field Division SAC Brian W. Garner. "This is a devastating and preventable tragedy that has forever changed a family's life. ATF is committed to holding prohibited individuals accountable and working alongside the Dallas Police Department to investigate firearms crimes and keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of those who have no legal right to possess them. We will pursue those who put our communities at risk and work tirelessly to ensure they face the consequences of their actions."

According to the criminal complaint, on Oct. 11, Dallas Police Department officers responded to an apartment on Wadsworth Drive. Upon arrival, Dallas Fire Rescue pronounced a three-year-old child deceased from a gunshot wound to the head.

During an interview with investigators, Aplon, the child's father, stated that he owned a Canik 9mm semi-automatic pistol and an AR-style rifle. Aplon admitted that he kept both weapons loaded and unsecured inside the residence, specifically noting that the 9mm pistol was kept with a round in the chamber inside an unlocked stool beside his bed.

DPD detectives executed a search warrant at the residence and recovered the Canik 9mm pistol inside the bedroom stool. The firearm was jammed with a spent 9mm casing caught in the slide. Investigators also recovered an RF-15 multi-caliber rifle from a closet. A subsequent examination by the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office indicated that the child sustained a close-contact gunshot wound that was allegedly caused by Aplon's unsecured Canik 9mm pistol.

Federal law prohibits anyone previously convicted of a felony from possessing firearms or ammunition. The complaint alleges that Aplon was convicted of felony theft in Denton County, Texas, in September 2023. It also alleges that the pistol was not manufactured in Texas and therefore traveled in interstate or foreign commerce before he possessed it.

If convicted, Aplon faces up to 15 years in federal prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Dallas Field Division and the Dallas Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nadin-Sarah Salkić from the Violent Crimes Section is prosecuting the case.

A criminal complaint is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

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