Boy Kills Fellow 10-Year-Old With Father’s Stolen Gun: Sheriff

A boy, 10, shot and killed another 10-year-old with his father’s stolen gun, Sacramento police said this weekend.

The gun was taken from the boy’s father’s car before being involved in the shooting in the Foothill Farms area at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, local NBC affiliate KCRA 3 reported. The incident took place in an apartment complex in the 4700 block of Greenholme Drive.

Family members identified the victim as Keith “KJ” Frierson, who later died at the hospital. He was shot after going outside to ride his bike, his aunt Erika told KCRA.

“He was smart, very intelligent, kind, loving, respectful,” Erika told the news outlet. “He didn’t deserve this. He still had a whole life to live.”

The Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that a suspected 10-year-old shooter went to his father’s vehicle to get him cigarettes before taking the gun from the car and bragging about it.

It’s unknown at this time what led to the shooting.

The sheriff’s office told KCRA that the father of the suspected shooter, Arkete Davis, 53, was barred from owning or possessing a firearm at the time.

The gun, which had been reported stolen in 2017, was later found in a nearby trash can.

After Frierson was shot, the 10-year-old suspected shooter was arrested and taken to the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility with a murder charge, according to KCRA. Davis was also sent to Sacramento County Main Jail with several firearm charges along with child endangerment and for being an accessory. He is currently held on a $500,000 bail, with a court date scheduled for January 3.

Newsweek reached out to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office for comment via email.

Sacramento County Sheriff Jim Cooper called the incident “tragic and completely avoidable” on social media platform X on Sunday.

“As more details of the incident come to light, there is definitely a concern about irresponsible parenting and that an ex-felon was illegally in possession of a firearm that led to this young boy’s murder,” he said. “Not to be missed, all this happened in front of another 6-year-old child who saw the whole thing. The trauma that child experienced always gets overlooked.”

Cooper added that the majority of homicides in Sacramento County involving firearms are committed by those not legally allowed to have guns.

“We cannot let this boy’s murder be a one-day news story and forgotten about by tomorrow morning,” Cooper said. “The issue of illegally possessing guns by those who should not have them and using them to commit violent crimes is a real one. One that the Sheriff’s Department will address in 2024.”

The impact of this gun violence is likely to create long-term impacts for the entire community, according to Dr. Micki Burns, the chief clinical officer of grief organization Judi’s House/JAG Institute.

“When the impact of violence leads to death and bereavement, the effects become even more complicated and complex,” Burns told Newsweek.

Burns said young people especially are at risk for long-term consequences after a sudden traumatic death.

“The families directly impacted by this tragic shooting will need ongoing and consistent community support as they grapple with the reality of what has transpired,” Burns said. “The impact will reach far beyond those involved to others in the neighborhood.”

Across the U.S., there were at least 630 mass shootings in which at least four people were shot in 2023 alone, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Only 2021 and 2022 had more mass shootings than 2023.

“Stories like this are devastating and chillingly common,” Jill Lemond, the senior director of education at security company Evolv Technology, told Newsweek, adding that firearms are the number one factor in the deaths of children and teens in America.

“Our first battle in addressing this epidemic is acknowledging it and fighting past the incredible denial that clouds this issue. We do not want to believe our children are in danger, but the data does not lie,” Lemond said.

Depression, suicidal ideation and anxiety continue to affect skyrocketing numbers of teens, she said, contributing to the gun violence problem.

“Our youth deserve a world where it is safe to ride your bike, to go to school, to learn and to grow,” Lemond said. “We can no longer ignore these senseless deaths. Engaging in uncomfortable, crucial conversations is the first step in creating safer experiences.”