9-year-old shot and killed in apartment, Georgia police say. Teen charged with murder
A teenager accused of shooting and killing a 9-year-old at an Atlanta apartment complex faces multiple charges, including murder.
The teen, who wasn’t named, turned himself in to police and is being held in a youth detention center, Atlanta police announced in a Feb. 26 news release.
Officers arrived Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Station at Richmond Hill apartments around 10:15 p.m. to find a male child had been shot, authorities said. He died at the scene.
Relatives identified him as 9-year-old Kemoni Mack, WXIA reported. His death is the fifth in metro Atlanta this year of a child under 18 who was killed by gunfire, according to the news station.
A similar shooting unfolded Sunday, Feb. 27, when a 4-year-old accidentally shot himself while he and a relative sat in a car parked outside a Publix grocery store in DeKalb County, McClatchy News reported. No charges have been filed in that case as of Monday, Feb. 28.
A 16-year-old is suspected to have pulled the trigger in the shooting that killed Kemoni, WAGA reported, citing police. Authorities said there were adults around at the time, though none have been charged.
“He was a nice boy,” Kemoni’s mother, Denisia Mack, told the news station of her son. “He was a good kid.”
Mack said Kemoni and his sibling were staying with their godmother when the shooting occurred, according to WAGA.
The accused shooter also faces charges of aggravated assault, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, second-degree cruelty to children and possession of a handgun by a person under 18, according to police.
The incident remains under investigation.
This story was originally published February 28, 2022 at 2:36 PM with the headline "9-year-old shot and killed in apartment, Georgia police say. Teen charged with murder."