MONTEREY COUNTY (KRON) — A plea from prison tonight from the father of a little boy in Oakland.
The man serving time in prison is calling on the state’s help to see his child — as the little boy clings to life.
Four-year-old Navaughn Jackson remains in critical condition, after he accidently shot himself in the head with a gun earlier this week.
The gun belonged to his mother’s boyfriend — Terrence Wilson — who said he left the gun under a pillow and forgot about.
The child found it while watching TV. Navaughn’s father — 28-year-old Nathan Jackson – is serving time at the Salinas Valley State Prison.
But with his son fighting for his life, the family is petitioning the state to give him visitation rights at the Children’s Hospital in Oakland.
“He’s sorry for the bad choices that he made that got him here and away from his son, but no parent could ever imagine something like this would happen,” said Jamilia Land, the aunt of Navaughn.
Land visited her nephew Jackson at Salinas Valley State prison Saturday. She’s his first visitor since he heard the news about his 4-year-old boy.
“He has completely fallen apart, screaming and crying,” she said. Navaughn is on life support at Children’s Hospital Oakland after he accidentally shot himself in the head Wednesday.
After requesting that Nathan be given what’s called a community leave, the state granted him a Skype video call Saturday night.
“I’m grateful and appreciative that he has made that offer, but it is not enough,” Land said.
Land says community leaves can be granted to inmates that are classified level one or two. Nathan is currently classified as a level four inmate.
So the family is hoping the governor will show compassion, and make an exception.
“He has lost two brothers and a sister to gun violence and now his 4-year-old son is in the hospital fighting for his life,” Land said. “And I’m asking Gov. Newsom as a father, as a man, to please grant him this exception and allow him to be safely transported to the hospital. where he can sit by his son’s bedside.”
Land says considering the circumstances, she doesn’t feel the request is unreasonable She says such a visit would not only benefit Nathan, but little Navaughn as well.
“We don’t know, we don’t know what the extent of his injuries are, I need him. I need him to be with his son,” she said.
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