An 11-year-old boy in Tennessee shot and killed an 8-year-old girl over an argument about a puppy. The fifth-grade boy used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun to shoot out the window of his White Pine home and killed neighbor Maykayla Dyer.
The 11-year-old Tennessee boy shot the 8-year-old around 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, WRIB reports. Maykayla Dyer was a third grader at the same school as her murderer.
“When we first moved to White Pine, the little boy was bullying Maykayla,” said Latasha Dyer, the victim’s mother. “He was making fun of her, calling her names, just being mean to her. I had to go the principal about him and he quit for a while, and then all of a sudden yesterday he shot her. She was a precious little girl, she was a mommy’s girl, no matter how bad of a mood you were in she could always make you smile.”
Jefferson County Sheriff G.W “Bud” McCoig said the boy shot the girl in the chest with a 12-gauge shotgun. Maykayla was pronounced dead a short time after the shooting at an area hospital, the New York Daily News reports. Deputies found the girl on the ground outside of her home and transported her to Morristown-Hamblen Hospital.
Neighbors told the local media that the murder was senseless and was prompted by the 8-year-old girl telling the 11-year-old boy that he could not play with her dog.
“Wanting to see a puppy, the little girl laughed and told him no and that was it,” neighbor Chasity Arwood said.
Neighbors say Maykayla Dyer was the girl killed by 11-yr old boy who lived next door. More: http://t.co/5vnQEnqIxI pic.twitter.com/1yUmkN4Cg8
— WBIR Channel 10 (@wbir) October 4, 2015
The shooter, who has not been identified because he is a minor, was charged with first-degree murder in juvenile court. A White Pines area judge opted against charging the alleged murderer as an adult. The family, which includes a total of six children, is now under investigation by the Department of Children’s Services. The five siblings of the 11-year-old murder suspect were home at the time of the shooting.
White Pine principal giving statement about shooting death of 8-year-old girl over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/VZjsTW4QcG
— Becca Habegger (@BeccaWBIR) October 5, 2015
“I want her back in my arms, this is not fair, hold and kiss you’re babies every night because you’re never promised the next day with them,” Latasha Dyer told WATE News . “I hope the little boy learned his lesson because he took my baby’s life and I can’t get her back.”
White Pines Elementary School Principal Bill Walker held a press conference on Monday to address the Maykayla Dyer shooting.
“White Pine community has experienced a tragedy, with a shooting death of a student. The staff of White Pine School and Jefferson County Schools are saddened by this incident, but want to assure parents and community that counselors are on site to assist students and staff. The emotions of our staff are so great when something like this happens that we’re all trying to love on and pray for and protect all of students. We got together as a staff yesterday and had our emotional time with each other, to try to prepare for today. I don’t think that you can prepare for when you walk in and see students that are hurting.”
The 11-year-old accused killer has been taken into custody, and a detention hearing was scheduled for today. The judge could still decide to transfer the Maykayla Dyer shooting case to adult court at a later date. Sheriff McCoig called the child murder a very tough case for his department and deputies to handle.
“We lost an 8-year-old child, and our department is hurting,” Sheriff McCoig added.
The Jefferson County sheriff said the whole community is hurting, and they will get through the tragedy “by the grace of God.”
[Image via : Shutterstock.com ]
