(Yuba-Sutter, CA) – In Sutter County Court, a jury has found 34-year-old Michael Thomas Marti, formerly of Yuba City, guilty of four felonies, including Negligent Storage of a Firearm in the First Degree, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Felon in Possession of Ammunition, and Felony Child Abuse or Neglect. The jury also found that the victim in this case, a six-year old child with learning disabilities, was a particularly vulnerable victim, according to a release.

In September of 2021, Marti’s 5-year-old child with learning disabilities, found his loaded 9mm gun on a living room table while Marti was asleep in another room. The child picked it up, pulled the trigger and shot himself in the head, “killing him almost immediately” according to a Sutter County DA case update. Marti fled the state, but turned himself in after just over a year in “late 2022.”

Marti faces a maximum 8 years in state prison. Sentencing is scheduled for the 24th of this month.

The case was investigated by the Yuba City Police Department and the lead investigator in the case was Yuba City Police Department Sergeant Scott Rounds.