A juvenile was detained Friday in the shooting death of an 8-year-old in North Carolina, according to police.
On July 25, Jenesis Dockery was shot at her babysitter’s home in Eastover, North Carolina and succumbed to her injuries two days later at UNC Medical Center in Chapel Hill.
In a news conference Thursday, Jenesis’ parents, Fon and Kimberly Dockery, were dressed in T-shirts with their daughter’s picture on them as they pled for action from the the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.
Moments before assembling to speak to reporters, the family had met with investigators and the Sheriff’s Office legal counsel to discuss the case, attorney Harry Daniels said. He said it was during that meeting that they learned charges against the child had been submitted to the Department of Juvenile Justice earlier in the day.
According to a Sheriff’s Office news release Thursday, detectives with the Sheriff’s Special Victims Unit submitted information to the Juvenile Justice Division alleging that two counts of larceny of a firearm and a charge of manslaughter were warranted in the girl’s killing. Detectives also petitioned the department to seek a secured custody order for the offender, the release said.
The offender has been transported and is in the custody of Juvenile Justice, the sheriff’s office said Friday.