A two-year-old boy fatally shot his mother from the back seat of the car as she drove, less than two months after a Florida mother was shot and wounded in similar circumstances.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff's Office said Patrice Price, 26, of Milwaukee, died at the scene Tuesday morning, having been shot as she drove along a highway.
Police said the child picked up a gun that slid out from under the driver's seat and fired it through the front seat, striking Price.
Sherriff deputies performed CPR on Price until emergency medical personnel arrived but could not revive here.
A .40-caliber gun was recovered from the floor of the back seat behind the driver, along with a security officer's gun belt belonging to the victim's boyfriend, sheriff's officials said.
Price's father, Andre, told The Associated Press that the car belongs to his daughter's boyfriend.
Also in the car were Price's mother and one-year-old son, who were both in the front passenger seat.
Officials said the two-year-old boy was not riding in a car seat in the back. The statement did not mention if he was wearing a seat belt.
Price's 28-year-old brother, Antonio Price, told AP that no one else was injured in the incident.
"She was the best mom for her kids, put clothes on their back," he said. "When I needed her, she always cared for me and gave me great advice."
Andre Price described his daughter as a hardworking mother of three, saying she also had a daughter aged seven or eight.
He said the family would focus on funeral arrangements, and that they will need help with the costs.
The sheriff's office declined to comment on whether the case was being investigated as a potential crime. The Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office said it was too early to know whether charges would be filed.
Last month in Florida, Jamie Gilt, a 31-year-old guns rights activists, was shot in the back by her four-year-old son who used a handgun that slid from underneath the front seat to the back where he was seated. Gilt survived the shooting.
Then, sheriff's officials said the boy had recently learned how to unbuckle himself.
He climbed out of his seat, picked up the gun and fired through the front seat, hitting his mother in the back, investigators said.