(StraightNews.org) – Prosecutors in California have charged a father whose child shot and killed a pal. The District Attorney’s office in Sacramento announced it would file charges against 53-year-old Arkete Davis following a shooting allegedly carried out by his 10-year-old son. The dead child was 10-year-old Keith Frierson, who was shot in a parking lot in the city and later pronounced dead in a local hospital. A Sacramento newspaper reported that the shooting took place after a bike race between the two boys.
Davis appeared in court on January 3 on charges of criminal storage of a firearm, two counts of child endangerment, and felon in possession of a firearm. The gun was reportedly stolen in 2017, and Davis was legally prohibited from owning a firearm. His 10-year-old son was being held at the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility but was recently released into his mother’s custody.
The District Attorney’s office said, “Based on the facts currently known, the sole criminal liability and responsibility for the child’s death lies exclusively with this Defendant.”
The incident happened when the unnamed son of Arkete Davis ran to his dad’s truck to get cigarettes for him and found the gun inside. The child took the gun and bragged about it to his friend before shooting him. Officers responded to a gunshot report and arrived to find Keith Frierson bleeding from the head and neck.
Statistics published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last year revealed that the number of children dying in gun-related incidents reached a record high in 2021. Firearms killed 4,752 young people that year and 80% of those were males under the age of 19. Black male children were more likely to die in homicides and whites in suicides.
Dr. Chethan Sathya, a pediatric trauma surgeon, said gun violence is one of the nation’s most urgent crises. “The most likely reason that your child will die in this country is at the hands of a firearm,” he said.
Copyright 2024, StraightNews.org
