Authorities in North Carolina have brought manslaughter and other charges against an 11-year-old boy accused of fatally shooting an 8-year-old girl his mother was babysitting, PEOPLE reported.
Authorities said the victim, identified as Jenesis Dockery, was with her sister at the babysitter’s home on July 23 when the accused juvenile fatally shot the minor in the head. In the wake of the fatal incident, the attorney for the victim’s family told ABC11-WTVD that several previous posts on social media showed the 11-year-old had access to guns. The attorney also said two of the guns linked to the shooting were stolen from a safe belonging to a family member and from inside the home of the suspect’s mother.
Jenesis is said to have later succumbed to her injuries after she was rushed to the hospital. “This has been a horrible nightmare; still doesn’t feel real. It’s hard to put into words how we’re trying to navigate, three weeks later, for something to be done. We wore orange pins on the day we buried our daughter — for gun violence awareness,” Jenesis’ father, Fon Dockery, said during a news conference last Thursday.
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“Because as much as we want justice for our daughter, this is something no parent should ever have to do. We thank the community, and we ask that you continue to support and continue to reach out until the full hand of the law is exacted with justice for our Jenesis.”
Following the shooting, a GoFundMe was created to help raise funds for Jenesis’ recovery before her passing. The fundraiser states that it is now asking for support for the victim’s family as they “adjust to life” after her “tragic passing.”
“She is remembered by those who knew her as a joyful, energetic child with Jesus in her heart and a perfect smile on her face,” the fundraiser states. “The void that is left in her absence is immeasurable. The Dockery family has a long road of grief and healing ahead of them.”
