HICKORY, N.C. — A 16-year-old boy died and a 3-year-old girl was recovering after being shot in Hickory Thursday night, police said.
Hickory Police were called to the Blue Ridge Heights apartments a little before 8:30 p.m. When officers got there, they were told bystanders took the 16-year-old to Frye Regional Medical Center.
Police said the 16-year-old, identified as Devin O'Dariess Lee, died as a result of his injuries. The 3-year-old was also taken to the hospital after being hit by shrapnel.
Just before 9 p.m., police received information a 17-year-old suspect died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a home in Burke County.
A second suspect, identified as 20-year-old Jonathan Tyler Laxton, was arrested at the home in Burke County. Laxton was charged with accessory after the fact.
Police believe the shooting was the result of a dispute between the 17-year-old shooter and 16-year-old Lee.
“He was a momma’s boy, so when something goes down I’m always there, and I feel like I failed him in protecting him,” said Sylvia Baker, Lee's mother.
Baker said she heard the gunshots from down the block where she lives. At the time, she was trying to get her other children inside the home for safety. Baker didn’t know her son was shot until her daughter came running into the home.
“I heard her say ‘her brother’, and that’s all I heard and I just ran up there,” Baker said. “When I got up there, I saw them putting my baby in the car.”
NBC Charlotte found multiple cars on scene with bullet holes. A neighbor and friend of Lee's called for an end to the violence.
“If you’ve got a problem with someone, put the guns down man, go get some boxing gloves or something,” he said.
Baker told NBC Charlotte the shooter, Zamare Davidson, was related to her son.
“We call him our cousin,” she said. “I’m not angry at him or anything, I don’t know the situation.”
Baker said Lee was in bad shape when he was taken to the hospital.
“He was brain dead, but he was fighting, his pulse kept coming back in and out on his own, and there was just nothing they could do after so long,” said Baker. “I should have prayed a little more for my son because I knew he was out there in the streets.”
The investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information is asked to call Hickory Police at 828-328-5551.