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Man sentenced to 8-plus years in jail after leaving loaded gun where 2-year-old was shot

LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — Shazeem Hayes cried in court Friday and said that his girlfriend’s 2-year-old son called him "Daddy."

Hayes will spend 8 1/2 years in prison after Jacarion Gladden grabbed his loaded gun and was shot to death last July on East Dunlap Street in Lancaster County.

[Police chief says toddler shot, killed was 'victim of extreme negligence']

[IMAGES: 2-year-old shot at Lancaster home]

[Loaded gun left in room where 2-year-old Lancaster boy was shot]

Police said Jacarion grabbed the gun and it went off and shot him in the chest.

(Shazeem Hayes)

Hayes wasn’t allowed to have a gun because he is a convicted felon.

Jacarion also tested positive for cocaine during an autopsy. His mother, Toni Gladden, is also facing charges.

(

Jacarion

 Gladden)

Gladden, 26, and her boyfriend, Hayes, 18, were charged with unlawful conduct toward a child. Gladden was also charged with misprision of a felony, or lying to police about the circumstances of the incident.