Tri-City area teen’s father arrested after she shot herself twice, say police
A Benton City father is facing felony charges after police discovered drugs and illegal guns at his house after his teen daughter shot herself twice in the leg.
Court documents show Jeffrey K. Hearn was arrested Thursday after a “large quantity” of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, three handguns and an AR-15 style rifle were discovered at his Kennedy Road mobile home.
Hearn, 41, has a 2010 conviction for possessing a controlled substance with the intent to deliver. He was sentenced to three months in jail.
The conviction prevents him from legally owning a gun, according to the Benton County Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff’s investigators went to the home after he rushed his 15-year-old daughter to a Richland hospital with gunshot wounds.
Her arrival at Kadlec Regional Medical Center sent several Richland schools into lockdowns until police could sort out where she had been shot. Initially, police mistakenly believed it happened in front of Richland High School.
She was in surgery as officers initially responded, and later police discovered the shooting happened at the mobile home.
The manufactured home sits between Benton City and West Richland in unincorporated Benton County. When deputies arrived, they found several bloodstains in the road outside of the home.
The trail started near a Subaru, and officers spotted a Glock-style pistol and a loaded magazine on the driver’s seat. The trail led into the home and detectives got a search warrant to go inside, according to court records.
The search turned up a black Ruger on the kitchen counter, a Glock 19 pistol in a safe and a AR-15 style. The rifle didn’t have any serial numbers on it, court records said.
Police also discovered the marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms.
Court documents claim Hearn admitted the guns were his and that he was selling the drugs.
The sheriff’s office posted on Facebook last week that the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force had been investigating a convicted felon who lived in the area and was suspected of delivering drugs to middle school students.
Hearn is being held in the Benton County jail in lieu of $75,000 bail on investigation of four counts of illegally gun possession in connection.
His daughter was later released from the hospital.
This story was originally published May 9, 2023 at 5:00 AM.