ST. LOUIS - Jurors returned a not-guilty verdict for a St. Louis man accused of being responsible for the accidental shooting death of an 11-year-old boy with autism.

Court records say jurors deliberated for almost three hours before making their decision to acquit Tracy T. Smith, 37, for first-degree fatal child endangerment and first-degree involuntary manslaughter.

The incident happened in 2023 at a home in the Jeff-Vander-Lou neighborhood, when the son of Smith's girlfriend, David Winston, shot himself with a .38-caliber revolver. Officials say Winston—who had autism—discovered Smith's gun in the bedroom.

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Court records say Winston was taken to the hospital but died from his injuries.

When investigators questioned S

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