Trial ordered for detective whose gun used by teen who committed suicide

A judge has ordered an Austin police detective to stand trial on claims she was criminally negligent in a case that could ultimately address to what lengths gun owners must go to secure their firearms.

An August trial is scheduled for Detective Brenda Bermudez, the subject of a wrongful death lawsuit in Bastrop County.

The mother of a 16-year-old girl who killed herself in 2014 says the teen was staying with her aunt when she took Bermudez’s gun.

Bermudez was the aunt’s partner and the teen used the gun to later shoot herself.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that Bermudez contends she had secured the weapon in a safe but the mother argues it was unsecured and accessible to the girl.

State law says people, including law officers, are criminally negligent if they fail to secure their firearms.