Updated: Joliet man charged with recklessly keeping gun in home that 2-year-old boy used to shoot himself

A Joliet man has been charged with recklessly leaving a 9 mm handgun he was not supposed to possess inside of a residence, which led to a 2-year-old boy to shoot himself with the gun, court records show.

The incident that led to felony charges against Sensei Bennett, 26, of Joliet occurred Sept. 27 at a residence in the 300 block of Comstock Street.

Officers responded to the residence that day and found a 2-year-old boy with a gunshot wound to the face. The boy was taken to Ascension Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet before he was flown to Lurie’s Children Hospital in Chicago.

The child remains hospitalized in critical condition as of Tuesday.

Joliet police Sgt. Dwayne English said Bennett has not been arrested yet.

Will County Judge Victoria Breslan signed a warrant Friday for Bennett’s arrest on a charge of endangering the life and health of a child, a misdemeanor and felony charges of reckless conduct, unlawful marijuana possession with intent to deliver and unlawful possession of a weapon by felon.

Breslan’s warrant carries a $200,000 bond.

A criminal complaint filed in court alleged Bennett kept a loaded Glock 9 mm handgun within his residence Sept. 27 and the gun was accessible to the 2-year-old child.

The child obtained the handgun and the gun “discharged, causing a projectile to strike” the child in the head, according to the criminal complaint.

Bennett was accused in the criminal complaint of not properly storing or securing the handgun within his residence.

Bennett also was charged with unlawful possession of the firearm because he was convicted of felony unlawful possession of marijuana with intent to deliver in a 2016 case in Will County.

In that case, Bennett pleaded guilty to possessing marijuana with a street value of $200 on Oct. 19, 2016.

Judge Dave Carlson sentenced Bennett to 24 months’ probation, but prosecutors later petitioned to revoke that probation because of Bennett’s repeated failure to to report to the probation department, court records show. On Aug. 16, 2018, prosecutors withdrew the petition and Bennett’s probation was terminated unsatisfied.

Among the charges leveled against Bennett over the Sept. 27 incident was one that accused him of unlawfully in possession of between 500 to 2,000 grams of marijuana with intent to deliver. Illinois residents may only possess up to 30 grams of marijuana flower, five grams of marijuana concentrate, such as oils, and up to 500 milligrams of THC in a marijuana-infused product, such as edibles.