It was not immediately clear if the third child was in the same room when the 5-year-old boy used his mother's illegal gun to fatally shoot his 4-year-old brother by accident.
EAST ORANGE -- A 1-year-old child was also in the apartment when a 5-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his 4-year-old brother in the city two weeks ago, the prosecutor's office said Wednesday.
It was not immediately clear if the 1-year-old boy, who was not injured, witnessed the 5-year-old shoot his younger brother, Christopher Lassiter III, on June 25, said Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.
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The 1-year-old is not the child of Itiyanah Spruill, the mother of Christopher and the 5-year-old, but rather the step brother of one of her children, Carter said. She did not know which child was his relation.
Spruill, 22, pleaded not guilty June 28 to charges of endangering the welfare of the children and a weapons violation in connection with the death. The mother did not have a permit to possess the gun used in the shooting, court records show.
No details have been released about how Spruill obtained the gun.
While she is being held on $310,000 bail, she was permitted to attend a viewing of her slain child before his funeral services late last week.
At the services, family remembered Christopher as an active 4-year-old, who loved the film "The Avengers" and aspired to be a doctor.
"He thought he was his own superhero," the boy's aunt, Rev. Arvetta Woody, said.
Carter said she does not know if Spruill had custody of Christopher or the 5-year-old.
The state Department of Children and Families, parent agency for the Division of Child Protection and Permanency, declined to say if the family had ever been investigated by state authorities.
"We are still collecting information," a spokesman, Ernest Landante, said.
The division, the state's child welfare agency, is required to release information in cases when a child dies from maltreatment of a child's death from maltreatment, according to the state and federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.
The laws require the disclosure of the child's name, date of birth and death, the dates of contact with the family, whether other children were living in the home and where they are now, the outcome of any investigation and whether any services were recommended or provided to the family.
Staff writer Susan K. Livio contributed reporting.
Luke Nozicka may be reached at lnozicka@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @lukenozicka. Find NJ.com on Facebook.