The Times Argus reports that a woman from Barre Town is being sued in U.S. District Court in Burlington over the June 2021 shooting death of her boyfriend’s three-year-old nephew.

Court documents reportedly show that Rebecca Post, 48, was dating a man from Barre City when the man’s nephew, three-year-old Peter Bunce of Saco, Maine, visited her home on Beckley Hill Road with other family members. Post kept two loaded, unsecured handguns in her bedroom; the three-year-old found one of them and shot himself.

Peter Bunce’s mother and father are suing Post for negligence. They claim she failed to either secure the weapons or notify the Bunce family that the weapons were present. Post was not home when the shooting took place. The boy’s father and uncle were in the house but reportedly left him unattended.

After an investigation by the Barre Town Police, the Washington County State’s Attorney’s Office declined to file charges. Neither agency publicized this information. According to the newspaper, State’s Attorney Rory Thibault found that there was insufficient evidence to prove criminal intent and that there are no laws in Vermont governing storage of or access to firearms in a home.