ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Wednesday, February 28, 1996           TAG: 9602280074
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-1  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER 

5-YEAR-OLD FIRES RIFLE, HITS HIS MOTHER

FRANKLIN COUNTY sheriff's officials say they believe a boy accidentally wounded his mother when she stopped at her former home where he lives.

A 5-year-old locked himself inside his father's truck, picked up a

The shooting, which Franklin County sheriff's investigators believe was accidental, happened about 8:30 p.m. in the Cedar Lane Trailer Park on Virginia 760 in Henry.

Belinda L. Sink, 33, was shot in the left shoulder, said Fred Jamison of the Sheriff's Office. She is recuperating at Roanoke Memorial Hospital.

Sink, who is living in Reidsville, N.C., returned to her former home in Henry to gather some of her belongings Monday, Jamison said.

The 5-year-old and his father, Lowell I. Rector - Sink's estranged boyfriend - still live there.

Sink and Rector, 47, were talking outside the home when the boy climbed into the truck and locked himself inside.

The son thought he might have to return to North Carolina with his mother and he didn't want to go, said Sheriff W.Q. ``Quint'' Overton.

Minutes later, the gun went off.

The Sheriff's Office received conflicting information from witnesses and continues to investigate the case.

Overton said Sink's teen-age son from a previous marriage and another boy were with her when she arrived in Henry.

The rifle is Rector's, Overton said.

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