A 13-year-old boy was gunned down while having a sleepover with his friends when the house they were in was shot up in a suspected gang hit that also killed a man there.
Demarcus Shirley, 13, was caught in the crossfire when dozens of shots were fired into the home in Gresham Park, Georgia, at around 4 a.m. on July 2 in a drive-by attack that also killed Chauncey Newman, 45, and a dog, Atlanta News First reported.
“He had a lot of life in front of him. He was a loved member of our family,” his great-uncle Greg Carthon said.
Investigators have not revealed the motive behind the shooting, but gang involvement was “likely,” according to an arrest warrant seen by KPTV. But Shirley’s pals have denied that he was involved in gang culture.
“He wasn’t in the streets at all. He’s just a funny little kid who liked to run around and play like a normal little kid,” Larry Bell-Ware, one of the kids with him at the sleepover, insisted.
“Demarcus had too much to live. He died too young,” he said.
Shirley was having an innocent slumber party with friends when the shots rang out as they slept, according to Larenzo Pinkins, the pal who found him.
“We had come upstairs, and I had seen him, and I tried to grab him, and he was dead,” Pinkins told 11Alive of the pal who was “really like my little brother for real.”
Keyshun Webb, 21, has since been charged with two counts of murder for killing the young teen and Newman.
Webb was also slapped with eight counts of aggravated assault, and an animal cruelty charge.
Shots were fired from a car Webb was driving around the time of the shooting, according to the warrant.
Webb was also allegedly involved in another drive-by shooting on the same day, the warrant says.
Cops suspect four people, including Webb, and two cars were involved in the shootings. The other suspects have not been identified.
“The DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office remains committed to ensuring individuals accused of violent crimes are located and brought into custody,” DeKalb County Sheriff Melody Maddox said.