Most days, King Javier Black was ‘just happy’ to get to see his friends. On June 3, he died while playing with them

Editor’s Note: This story is part of a series profiling American youth killed this year by guns, a leading cause of death of children in the US. Read more about the project here.

King Javier Black is never far away.

The 9-year-old’s prized collection of miniature grocery store items are scattered throughout the Michigan home where his mother, Joy Black, now lives.

“Right now, I’m looking at his little strawberry Hershey’s syrup,” Black said. “And he’s got little candy bars. Mr. Goodbars. A turkey.”

Each night, King’s favorite “Lilo & Stitch” bedcovers comfort his mom. She squeezes a plush doll of the animated extraterrestrial Stitch her son always slept with. “He just loved Stitch,” said Black. His teenage sister wraps herself in King’s beloved “Space Jam” blanket.

“I see him every day,” Black said. “I have all his stuff surrounding me.”

It’s been more than four months since King was fatally shot on June 3 by another child handling an unsecured handgun in East Point, a city southwest of Atlanta. Still, Black insisted, he is never far away.

King is one of more than 1,300 children and teens killed by a gun so far in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Firearms became the No. 1 killer of children and teens in America in 2020, surpassing motor vehicle accidents, which had long been the leading cause of death among America’s youth.

He ‘fought hard to be here’

In photos around the home in Portage, Michigan, the handsome boy shows off a broad, winning smile, at a school graduation, at birthdays, at family outings and holiday celebrations.

“I think about him every second of every minute of every day,” said Black, alternating between the past and present tenses when referring to her son.

“He had the best smile. He was so full of energy. So full of light. He’s always dancing around. He loves music. He was the happiest kid. He would wake up every day just happy to go to school to be with his friends.”

King was supposed to start the fourth grade this school year in East Point, where his family lived before the shooting. On February 5, he turned 9. His mother, 16-year-old sister and two friends celebrated at home with a cake and ice cream. They then went to a bowling alley.

“We had the best day,” Black recalled.

King was always with his mother. Perhaps that’s because he was born prematurely, at six months. He spent the first 10 months of his life in a neonatal intensive care unit.

“Everybody used to say, you guys are obsessed with each other,” his mother said. “But that was my baby. I mean, he went through a lot when he was born. So that just made me keep him even closer to me, you know.”

When King arrived home from the hospital, he breathed for a time with the help of a small oxygen tank.

“His lungs were completely shut,” Black recalled. “He literally fought hard to be here in this world when he came. And he fought on the way when he passed.”

Read other profiles of children who’ve died from gunfire

‘It was just too much’

On the evening of June 3, King had just returned home from a day at a water park with his mom and sister. He went out to play with friends.

Less than 10 minutes later, someone knocked on Black’s door and said her son had been shot.

King had been playing with two friends, ages 6 and 9, according to police. The older child got hold of a loaded Glock handgun in the home, said an arrest affidavit filed in Fulton County Superior Court.

The 9-year-old was playing with the gun when the firearm accidentally discharged and the bullet struck King in the chest, according to the document. King had been standing outside the front door with the younger child, the affidavit said.

The mother of the child who fired the gun was later arrested on two counts of influencing a witness, according to the affidavit. The two children initially told police “they did not know who shot King Black and they heard the gunshot while they were outside playing,” the affidavit said.

The 6-year-old later told investigators her mother had the two children “lie to the police about what happened” because she did not want the older child “to get in trouble,” the arrest affidavit said.

Now Black visits King’s still unmarked grave at a cemetery in Michigan at least two times a day. She plays music for him. She leaves flowers and his favorite snacks – blue Takis spicy tortilla chips and Capri Sun juices.

“Just to let them know I’m thinking about him,” Black said. “He’s on my mind every day. I want him to know, hey, I still think about you every second. I’m always going to be here.”

Black had to get away from East Point, temporarily moving in with her sister in their hometown of Portage, more than 700 miles north of where her son died.

“It was just really hard to be directly in the area,” she said. “It was just too much.”

Along with many mementos, the silence that envelopes the home is also a reminder of his absence.

“We’re not used to the house being so quiet,” she said.

One cherished photo shows King cradling and feeding his infant cousin on a couch. The image is included in the GoFundMe page set up for the family after the boy’s death.

“He loves kids,” Black said. “Ever since he was about four years old – my son never really had his father in his life – I would ask, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ He was like, ‘I want to be a dad.’ He used to always say that: I want to be a dad, mom. ”

Another keepsake is one of King’s favorite books, “I Believe I Can,” which ends:

There is light within my smile. There is voice within my sound.

My presence matters in this world. My life is worthy; there’s a plan.

I know I can do anything, if only I believe I can.

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