Father of girl killed in Chandler shooting booked on manslaughter

PHOENIX — Eric M. Sands, the father of a three-year-old girl who was killed in Chandler in June when she was shot in the abdomen, was booked on manslaughter on Tuesday, police said.

A statement from Chandler Police said autopsy results found that the girl died from a “close contact” single shotgun wound to the torso.

Sands’ originally gave conflicting accounts of what happened, as he first told police he was cleaning a shotgun in a bedroom when his daughter bumped into him. Sands later said he wasn’t cleaning the shotgun and had placed it on a bed when it discharged.

In his first version of the story to police, Sands said he was reading the gun for a trip, “later determined to be an outlaw motorcycle gang conference out of state,” a police statement said.

Detectives were able to corroborate the defendant’s statement that he and the gun were at the foot of a bed when the gun went off. Evidence excludes a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to police.

“The physical evidence shows the defendant recklessly had control, at least partially, of the gun when it was fired, killing his daughter,” a statement said.

On June 30, Sands had been booked for illegal possession of a weapon (he is a convicted felon, the statement said) and for possession of meth, which was found in a dresser drawer.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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