The father of a 3-year-old boy shot him inside a house, then tried to create a cover story, Philly police say

The 31-year-old man charged this weekend with shooting and wounding his 3-year-old son inside a Grays Ferry home last week concocted a cover story with the boy’s mother in an attempt to avoid being charged, according to Philadelphia police.

James Weldon was arrested Saturday by U.S. Marshals and Philadelphia police, and court records show he was arraigned Saturday night on charges including conspiracy, weapons offenses, endangering the welfare of a child, and obstruction. He was being held on $3 million bail in that case, the records show.

Weldon was not eligible to possess a gun because he had several previous convictions for drug and gun offenses. He was also out on bail at the time of the shooting for drug crimes he was charged with in January, court records show.

After he was arrested Saturday, Weldon also was charged with more drug and gun offenses over an incident that happened last month, the records show. The details were not immediately available Sunday, and Weldon did not yet have an attorney listed in court documents in that case or in the alleged shooting of his son.

The shooting happened around 5 p.m. last Sunday, when Weldon’s son was shot in the cheek. At first, police said, 23-year-old Laylaah Muhammad, the boy’s mother, told officers she’d been carrying him along the 1500 block of South Taney Street when she heard several gunshots and saw two men in dark clothing running away.

Muhammad said she then looked down and saw that her son had been shot, police said. A stranger driving by gave her and the toddler a ride to a fire station, and he was taken from there to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in critical but stable condition.

But investigators later found evidence suggesting the shooting happened inside a house on that block, not outside of it, police said. Muhammad was charged during the week and accused of lying to police. She was arraigned on counts including conspiracy, obstruction, and child endangerment, and was being held on $1 million bail, court records show.

Deputy Commissioner Frank Vanore said Sunday that police now believe Weldon was the one who pulled the trigger and shot the boy, and that ballistics evidence and blood were found in the house. Vanore said he didn’t believe Weldon intentionally shot the child, but that Weldon was nonetheless barred from having a gun in the first place.

Weldon was arrested Saturday morning on the 1300 block of Dover Street. He was charged in both the shooting of his son as well as the drug case connected to last month, court records show.

Vanore said police were working with the Department of Human Services to find the boy safe custody. Weldon has a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month, court records show.