DENVER -- A man and woman who first claimed that their 3-year-old son was wounded in a "drive-by" shooting by a stranger were charged Tuesday with felonies.

William Thalley, 29, is accused of shooting the toddler in the thigh when his wife threatened to leave him. He later admitted to police that he spun around with a hand gun, threatening to kill himself, and the weapon fired, according to a police statement supporting the father's arrest.

Thalley was formally charged with attempted first-degree murder, child abuse, and three counts of menacing, according to Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey's Office. Thalley's wife, 25-year-old Nicole Fernandez, was charged with being an accessory to a crime.

St. Anthony's Hospital called police just before 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 to report that the boy had been shot in the leg.

Initially, Thalley told police his son had been shot in a "drive-by" by an unknown Hispanic man at Morrison Road and South Lowell Boulevard.

But under questioning, Thalley allegedly admitted the boy was shot while he and his wife were arguing in the bedroom of their home at 3477 W. Alaska Place, in Denver, according to the arrest affidavit.

"William (Thalley) said that he and his wife Nicole were involved in an argument and he had thought of killing himself," police Detective Mark Klaus wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Thalley said that he pulled the gun from a dresser drawer "and spun with the gun in his right hand. The gun discharged," according to the detective's statement.

"Nicole Fernandez confirmed the argument and the fact that William went to get the gun and said, 'I want to kill myself,' because Nicole had told him that she was leaving him," according to the arrest affidavit. "Will did fire one round from the gun which hit (their son) in the leg," the wife allegedly told police.

"William saw that (the boy) was shot and was worried about what was going to happen," the father told police, according to the arrest affidavit.

While the father put pressure on their son's wound to prevent bleeding, the wife drove them and their second child first to Berkeley Lake where Thalley tossed the gun into the lake, then drove their wounded son to the hospital, according to the couple's arrest affidavits.

Fernandez allegedly admitted to police that she immediately left the hospital and drove home "to clean it up ... (by) removing a bloody green blanket from the bed where the shooting occurred," according to her arrest affidavit.

The defendants remain in custody in the Denver County Jail. Bond for Thalley was set at $275,000 and $150,000 for Fernandez. The couple is scheduled to appear in Denver County Court on Dec. 3.