A 28-year-old man pleaded guilty on Thursday, April 28, 2022, in the death of his 2-year-old son who picked up his father’s handgun and accidentally shot himself in a Middletown Township apartment in December 2020.
Jorddan M. Thornton appeared before Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey L. Finley and entered guilty pleas to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.
Thornton was sentenced to 11 ½ to 23 months in the Bucks County Correctional Facility, followed by three years of probation. He was also ordered to perform 30 hours of community service and undergo a gun safety or a parenting program.
The Middletown Township Police Department and the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office investigated the Dec. 2, 2020, shooting at the Racquet Club Apartments, 1970 Veterans Highway, and concluded that Thornton’s son “accessed a loaded firearm and then shot himself in the head in a reckless or grossly negligent manner.”