6-month-old killed in drive-by shooting while sitting in mom’s car, Georgia police say
UPDATE: Authorities have arrested a man accused in a drive-by shooting that killed a 6-month-old boy, Atlanta police confirmed.
Dequasie Little, 22, is charged with aggravated assault and felony murder in the death of the boy, who was sitting in the back seat of his mother’s car when he was shot Monday, Jan. 24, in Atlanta.
At a Jan. 25 news conference, Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said Little’s actions “are not a surprise.”
“When you’re a 22-year-old taking the life of a 6-month-old — he’s disrupted that entire family for generations, and his own as well,” Bryant said. “That’s why I think, collectively, we have to do better. We can no longer see this level of violence.”
Online records show Little has yet to be booked into the Fulton County Jail as of Jan. 25.
ORIGINAL STORY: A 6-month-old Georgia boy is dead after bullets ripped through his mother’s car as he sat in the back seat, multiple news outlets report.
Now Atlanta officials are putting out an urgent call to stop the violence.
Officers responded to reports of a person shot just after 2:30 p.m. in northwest Atlanta on Monday, Jan. 24, according to a police news release. They arrived on scene to find an infant had been shot.
The boy’s mother, who wasn’t publicly named, told WSB-TV she was in her car when she became caught in the crossfire of two people who were shooting at each other. A bullet went through the trunk of her car, hitting her infant son.
Investigators determined it was a drive-by shooting, and the baby wasn’t the intended target, according to Atlanta police. The child was taken to a hospital for treatment, where he died.
At a Jan. 24 news conference, newly elected Mayor Andre Dickens said he’s had enough of the senseless gun violence.
“These children are bearing the burden and the pain of adults who are choosing to use guns to solve disputes,” Dickens said. “The children are bearing this burden with their lives, and I’m here to ask and to demand that it stop right now.”
Monday’s incident marked the third shooting in Atlanta involving a child younger than 6 this year, Dickens said.
Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant echoed the mayor’s sentiments, saying something needs to be done about the “proliferation of weaponry” on the city’s streets.
“This is painful,” Bryant said. “This one hurts for ... for a 6-month-old to be riding down the street and become victim to gun violence — random gun violence between two people who can’t resolve a simple issue.”
No arrests have been made in the case as of Tuesday, Jan. 25. The shooting remains under investigation.
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