Police: Dallas man shot and killed 2-year-old son

A Dallas-area man is facing capital murder charges after authorities say he fatally shot his 2-year-old son.

Twenty-two-year-old Orlando Hidalgo was being held without bond Monday at the Dallas County jail in the death of Anthony Mares.

An arrest affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News states the child’s mother, 22-year-old Kancy Barrera, told police Hidalgo brought a handgun to her house just south of Dallas on Sunday. She says he told her he was holding the gun for a cousin.

The mother says she told her son, Anthony Isaiah Mares, to prepare for a trip to visit his grandmother and moments later heard a gunshot. She then saw Hidalgo come out of a bedroom holding the wounded child.

The Dallas Morning News reports Hidalgo told police he’d been in the bathroom with Barrera when he heard a bang. Hidalgo said he found Anthony standing in a room, crying, and that the boy had shot himself.

Online jail records don’t indicate whether Hidalgo has an attorney.