Couple charged with injury to a child after police show video of gun-toting toddler

POCATELLO — A man and woman have each been charged after police were shown a video of an unrestrained 2-year-old child in a moving vehicle holding a gun.

Matthew Carlos Chavez, 20, and Analisa Rae Diaz, 19, have each been charged with felonies for injuring a child, court records show. Diaz has also been charged with a felony for intimidating or impeding a witness.

On Sept. 29, Pocatello police were informed of the video of the child, which had been posted and shared on Snapchat, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

According to the affidavit, the video shows several people inside a moving car. One of the people seen in the video was a “small child” sitting on the lap of the person recording the video. The child was holding a handgun.

Pocatello police identified Diaz as the woman recording the video and learned that Chavez, who was in the rear passenger seat next to Diaz and the child, had given the gun to the child.

While investigating the origins of the video, officers learned Diaz later went to New Horizons High School with the intention of fighting someone who had been in the car with them when the video was made.

Chavez and Diaz were arrested and taken to Bannock County Jail, where they are being held bonds of $10,000 apiece.

Although Chavez and Diaz have been charged with these crimes, it does not necessarily mean they committed them. Everyone is presumed innocent until they are proven guilty.

If they are found guilty, Chavez could face up to 10 years in prison, while Diaz could face as much as 15.

Both are scheduled to appear in court for preliminary hearing before Magistrate Judge Carol Tippi Jarman on Oct. 16.