() — A 14-year-old girl was charged with murder Monday after a shooting in which an 11-year-old boy was struck by a stray bullet, according to Dallas Police.
Authorities received the call about a shooting at an apartment complex in south Dallas this Sunday around 2 pm (local time). As part of the investigation, police determined that a fight broke out between two teenagers in the complex’s parking lot.
“A teenage suspect retrieved a handgun and fired in the direction of the woman he was fighting with. However, the shot struck a young male bystander,” police said in a statement.
The 11-year-old boy was taken to the hospital where he died of his injuries, according to authorities.
The suspect initially fled the scene, but was later arrested and charged, and remains at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Centerthe police said. A weapon was recovered during the investigation, she added.
Police have not released the names of those involved in the incident due to their age.
Vashunte Settles identified the boy as her son De’Evan McFall and said he died in front of her, according to KTVT, a affiliate.
“To have to witness it and be there…I will never get over it,” he told the affiliate.
Settles said her daughter was fighting with a 14-year-old girl who then pulled out a gun and fired the fatal round, missing her but hitting De’Evan.
“He was so innocent. He definitely didn’t deserve it,” Settles said. “I just wish the younger generation would stop and think before they do irrational things, because in this situation, I’m not the only one suffering.”
Settles said he will miss De’Evan’s big smile and his love of sports.
“Take this story and do something productive with it. May my son not have died in vain and may this save someone else’s child, ”she said.
De’Evan was a fifth-grader in the DeSoto Independent School District, according to a statement from the district. His teachers “described him as sweet and charismatic and will be greatly missed by both his teachers and classmates,” the statement said.
“Losing a student is one of the most difficult experiences one can have as a teacher, it is similar to losing a child, since these are our children,” said the DeSoto ISD Superintendent of Schools Usamah Rodgers. “My heart and condolences go out to the McFall family. DeSoto ISD will continue to embrace the De’Evan McFall family, as well as his school family and our entire district.”
