Mom arrested after 2-year-old shoots 1-year-old in face while alone in car

EAST BATON ROUGE, La. (INSIDE EDITION) - A mother is under arrest after her 2-year-old son accidentally shot her 1-year-old daughter when they were left alone in a vehicle with a loaded gun, authorities said.

Crystal Kinchen, 23, and a male companion had run into a store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, when her little boy picked up the gun on Tuesday, according to reports.

The little boy -- who, along with his sister, was not secured in a child seat or with a seat belt -- began playing with the gun and accidentally fired it into his sister's face, a probable cause affidavit obtained by TV station WAFB said.

Kinchen and the man had been in the store for just about four seconds when the gun went off, the report said.

The young mother reportedly told police she was preoccupied by her cell phone and had thought the noise was a firecracker. Then, the man with her discovered her wounded daughter on floor of the vehicle.

After that, rather than wait for an ambulance, authorities said the pair rushed the baby to the hospital, where she was listed in critical condition.

Kinchen was charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile. She is being held on $15,000 bond, online records show.