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Ankeny father pleads not guilty in 4-year-old daughter's shooting death

The child shot herself in the head with an unattended firearm in May.

ANKENY, Iowa — The father of an Ankeny 4-year-old who fatally shot herself in the head pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Akeem Holmes, 33, was charged in June with Neglect or Abandonment of a Dependent Person, Involuntary Manslaughter and Making Firearms Available to a Minor for the death of his 4-year-old daughter Savannah Holmes.

The plea comes nearly three months after police officers responded to a call of a child with a gunshot wound on NE 5th Street in Ankeny.

According to a search warrant, Akeem was in the middle of feeding Savannah and her brother when he heard two men "pounding" at the door. Fearing a confrontation, Akeem grabbed the gun, only to leave it on the couch before going outside to talk to the men. 

While her father was outside, Savannah and her brother allegedly got down from their high chairs. Savannah then shot herself in the face with the unattended firearm, court documents say.

The jury trial for Holmes' case is set to begin Oct. 3. 

    

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