Mom charged after 5-year-old daughter shoots herself

CHICAGO — Police say a 5-year-old Chicago girl is in serious condition after she shot herself in the abdomen with a handgun that she found in her mother's purse.

Chicago police said Wednesday that the girl's mother, 22-year-old Larrinita Starks, has been charged with child endangerment.

The shooting happened Tuesday night in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the city's West Side. Police say the girl got the gun from her mother's purse in a bedroom.

Starks is due in court March 16. She does not have a listed phone number and could not immediately be reached for comment.

Police say the injured girl is in serious condition. Her grandmother, Oretha Miller, says the child is stable and recovering.

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