Woman’s trial begins in case of gun found at school

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Jury selection got underway Monday morning in the trial of a woman who police say illegally possessed a handgun that a child later brought to a Grand Rapids school.

The pink handgun was discovered in a 7-year-old’s backpack at Cesar E. Chavez Elementary in May 2023. Police traced the gun to Chelsea Berkley , 30, of Grand Rapids. She admitted to buying the gun on the street for $150, court records show.

Berkley’s live-in fiancee’s son later brought the unloaded gun to school , where it was confiscated, according to court records.

Because of prior convictions, Berkley should not have had a gun. She is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, a five-year felony.

In January, a jury acquitted Berkley’s fiancee, the boy’s mother, of a misdemeanor child abuse charge in the case in January, though she was found guilty of a misdemeanor lying to police charge.

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