Authorities in California said a 10-year-old boy fatally shot his age-mate with a stolen gun that he found in his father’s car. According to NBC News, 53-year-old Arkete Davis and his 10-year-old son were on Sunday arrested in connection with the fatal incident.
The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday said the fatal shooting happened in Foothill Farms. The 10-year-old suspect is said to have found the stolen gun in his father’s car after Davis sent him to fetch cigarettes from it.
The sheriff’s office said the minor subsequently “took a gun from inside the vehicle and bragged that his father had a gun.” “He then proceeded to shoot the victim once and ran into a nearby apartment,” the statement added.
Responding deputies rendered CPR and other “life-saving efforts” on the 10-year-old victim before Sacramento Metro Fire Department first responders got to the scene. The minor, who was identified as Keith “KJ” Frierson, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In the wake of the fatal shooting, Davis allegedly attempted to dispose of the gun by leaving it in a trash can, authorities said, per NBC News. Authorities also suspect the murder weapon was stolen.
Davis has since been charged with possession of a firearm by a felon, criminal storage of a firearm, carrying a stolen loaded firearm in a vehicle, child endangerment, and acting as an accessory to a crime after the fact. He is also being held on a $500,000 bail.
His 10-year-old son was taken into custody on suspicion of murder and is being held at the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility, the sheriff’s office said.
In an interview with KCRA, Keith’s mother, Brittani Frierson, said her son was shot after he failed to win a bike race. “My baby … asked me can he go outside to ride. Not even 15 minutes later, my baby was gone. All because he was enjoying a race with some other kids he considered his friends on his new bike,” Frierson said.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. It’s not OK.”
