The Georgia father of a six-year-old boy who fatally shot his seven-year-old brother is now facing murder charges.
The devastating incident took place on Monday in Lithonia, which sits in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Authorities say that is when 42-year-old Dante Daugherty pulled into the Texaco gas station at 1801 Rock Chapel Road. After parking at a pump, his two sons briefly got out of the car to join him before he ordered them back into the vehicle while he went inside the store, Atlanta News First reports. Moments later, a shot rang out, and the six-year-old was seen running out of the car. Daugherty rushed back to his vehicle, where he found his oldest child, Zayre Daugherty, suffering from a gunshot wound to the head.
Around 6:30 p.m., DeKalb County police responded to the gas station, but unfortunately, Zayre was pronounced dead at the scene. They quickly concluded that the children had been unattended with a loaded gun in the car while Daugherty was in the store. Daugherty has since been charged with two counts of cruelty to children and one count of second-degree murder for the death of Zayre. He remains in the DeKalb County Jail.
This child-related shooting is the latest in a string of tragedies where children were able to access unsecured guns and use them. Last month in Jacksonville, Florida, a nine-year-old boy shot and killed a six-year-old child inside his home. In June, a two-year-old fatally shot his pregnant mother after obtaining a family weapon in Ohio. Activists and lawmakers have called for renewed gun safety measures to prevent further tragedies as these devastating events become more common.
