Manslaughter charge warranted for 11-year-old accused of killing 8-year-old Jenesis Dockery: Sheriff
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- Cumberland County Sheriff's Office investigators determined manslaughter charges should be filed against the child accused of shooting and killing 8-year-old Jenesis Dockery.
Dockery was killed on July 23 while at her babysitter's home. She and her sister had been dropped off earlier in the day to spend time with a babysitter who had kept them many times before.
However, according to Dockery's father, the babysitter's 11-year-old son got his hands on a gun and shot Dockery in the head. She was rushed to the hospital but did not survive.
Cumberland County Sheriff's Office Special Victims Unit submitted paperwork to the Division of Juvenile Justice on Aug. 10 encouraging that group to charge the 11-year-old with two counts of larceny of a firearm and one charge of manslaughter.
Dockery's father spoke after a press conference held Thursday by the family's attorney Harry Daniels.
"This has been a horrible nightmare; still doesn't feel real. It's hard to put into words how we're trying to navigate, three weeks later, for something to be done. We wore orange pins on the day we buried our daughter -- for gun violence awareness. Because as much as we want justice for out daughter, this is something no parent should ever have to do. We thank the community, and we ask that you continue to support and continue to reach out until the full hand of the law is exacted with justice for our Jenesis," father Fon Dockery said.
Daniels said there were mutliple social media posts before the shooting that showed the 11-year-old had access to guns.
He also said two of the guns involved in the case were stolen from a relatives safe and in the babysitter's home when Dockery was shot.
No charges have been filed in the case yet. However, Daniels pointed out that it remains possible that adults responsible for the guns in the home and for supervising the child who shot Dockery could faces charges as the investigation progresses.
