The mother of 8-year-old Liquarry Jefferson, shot to death by a 7-year-old relative in the summer of 2007, will go to trial on manslaughter and related offenses next year in connection with the little boy’s death, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said today.

LAKEISHA GADSON (D.O.B. 8/17/76) is charged with involuntary manslaughter, assault and battery on a child, reckless endangerment of a child, improper storage of a firearm, unlawful possession of a firearm, and misleading a police officer in connection with Jefferson’s June 25, 2007, shooting death. Her trial was scheduled for April 5, 2010, at a hearing this morning in Suffolk Superior Court.

Though she herself is not alleged to have fired the fatal shot, Gadson was indicted because she allegedly allowed an unregistered, unsecured, loaded 9mm handgun to be stored in a low dresser drawer in her home within arm’s reach of a child. In the immediate aftermath of Jefferson’s death, Gadson allegedly told police that hooded intruders had stormed their Seaver Street apartment and shot him.

Also indicted was Gadson’s older son, JAYQUAN McCONNICO (D.O.B. 10/29/91), who pleaded guilty to similar charges late last year.

Assistant District Attorney David Deakin, chief of Conley’s Family Protection and Sexual Assault Bureau, is prosecuting the case. Attorney Peter Krupp represents the defendant. The parties will return to court on Feb. 25.