25-year-old man accused of 'shooting five-year-old-boy dead'
The boy was playing with his sisters at the time
- by
Kathryn Lewsey
A five-year-old boy has died after allegedly being shot dead by his next-door neighbour.
According to reports, family members say Cannon Hinnant was playing outside his father’s house in North Carolina, US, when he was allegedly shot in the head by Darius Sessoms, 25, on Sunday evening.
GoFundMe/WRAL
Local TV station WRAL reported that witnesses at the scene thought Sessoms was playing around before realising his gun was real.
Speaking to WRAL, neighbor Doris Lybrand said, ‘For a second I thought, ‘That couldn’t happen.’ People don’t run across the street and kill kids.’
It’s reported that Cannon was playing with his two sisters, aged 7 and 8, at the time of the shooting.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Cannon’s family by his uncle, Austin Hinnant, who said Cannon had cycled into Sessoms’ yard when he was shot.
He also described Cannon as a ‘sweet soul.’
One neighbour said that Sessoms and Cannon’s father knew each other, and they had been at the boy’s house earlier that day.
Darius Sessoms was arrested by local police and charged with first-degree murder.
He was also refused bail.
Police haven’t yet established a motive for the shooting.
