An 11-year-old boy in Jefferson County, Tenn. is facing first-degree murder charges in the shooting death of his 8-year-old neighbor. Around 7:30 pm Saturday, Oct. 3, McKayla Dyer of White Pine was playing outside with her puppy when the 11-year-old assailant (whose name is not being released to the public) asked to see the dog. According to criminal investigator G.W. “Bud” McCoig, the Jefferson County Sheriff, the 11-year-old took his father’s 12-gauge shotgun and shot McKayla in the chest.
Latasha Dyer, McKayla’s mother, found her daughter lying on the ground. McKayla was rushed to Morristown-Hamblin Hospital, where she died soon after.
Latasha Dyer stated that the “…boy was bullying McKayla” since the family first moved to the mobile home park in White Pine. She added:
“He was making fun of her, calling her names, just being mean to her. I had to go to the principal about him, and he quit for a while, and then all of a sudden yesterday he shot her.”
Neighbors stated the two were arguing over McKayla’s puppy. Chasity Arwood stated that the 11-year-old wanted “…to see a puppy,” but “…the little girl laughed and told him no, and that was it.”
Sheriff McCoig said that the homicide took place in an area where all the kids knew each other and played together. He also stated that the shooting is having a profound effect on the community. They’re getting through it “…by the grace of God,” the criminal investigator said.
Currently, the 11-year-old boy is being charged with first-degree murder in juvenile court, but a judge will later decide if he should be tried as an adult.
This tragic narrative is all too common. All of the time we are sickened and saddened by stories of kids shooting each other because they had access to unsecured weapons or were brought up in a reckless gun culture.
“Guns should be kept under lock and key if you have a child,” Chasity Arwood said. “Nowhere in arms reach of a child.”
She’s right. Every gun that ends up in the hands of a child must first pass through the hands of an adult.
