ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – North County Police Cooperative was contacted on March 6 by a local hospital about a two-year-old who had suffered a gunshot wound to the leg.

By the time officers arrived at the hospital, the child and mother, Taiesha Campbell, had been transferred to another hospital.

According to the North County Police Cooperative’s probable cause statement, the shooting happened on March 6. Police did not provide a more specific location.

Miller and Campbell claimed the child had been wounded in a drive-by shooting, according to police. However, detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the time and place where the alleged drive-by occurred and found no evidence of that happening.

Investigators, however, learned that she and another suspect, Rodrick Miller, had been cleaning a firearm inside Campbell’s home before leaving it on a couch.

Campbell admitted to detectives that she left Miller in the room. Moments later, she heard a gunshot and returned to find her son severely wounded.

The two reportedly made a stop along the way to the hospital, hiding the gun in the woods.

Investigators said Campbell confessed to tossing the gun in a wooded area while she and Miller drove the child to the hospital. Police later found the firearm.

When officers later responded to the home with this new information, they discovered a section of the couch had been cut out, and they found suspected narcotics on the same couch.

When FOX 2 spoke with neighbors Monday afternoon, a few alleged that a couch by the apartment dumpsters was the suspect’s. 

Miller was arrested Friday night, and Campbell was taken into custody Monday after remaining at large through the weekend.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office charged Miller with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm, and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution. Campbell was charged in absentia with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child, armed criminal action, and tampering with physical evidence in a felony prosecution.

“Everyone’s a victim in this scenario, right? Ultimately, parents, family, siblings, they had a child that was shot, right? And it’s our duty, not only the family, but as a community; we all feel that,” said Corp. Benjamin Santoyo, a detective with North County Police Cooperative.

In 2019, Campbell spoke with FOX 2 after losing her daughter to gun violence. At the time, she had expressed grief and frustration over senseless shootings.

Santoyo has a word of advice for parents who own guns in their homes.

“Lock your firearms up; take the time to unload them, put them in a safe spot and put them out of reach of our children,” Santoyo said.

She and Miller face multiple criminal charges, and Campbell’s children have been placed under state care.

Miller is due in court for a bond reduction hearing on March 17 and a preliminary hearing on April 9. A St. Louis Circuit Court judge signed an arrest warrant for Campbell on March 7.