Raleigh second-grader dies after accidental shooting

Ty-Rion Henry, 8, was shot when his grandfather's pellet gun went off Monday afternoon, said his mother, Brianne Henry.

Daniel Henry was shooting at squirrels outside and placed the gun at the foot of the stairs when he came back inside, Brianne Henry said. As Ty-Rion was coming downstairs, she said, her father checked to make sure the gun's safety latch was on, and he accidentally hit the trigger, shooting the boy.

The pellet went through the boy's eye and lodged in his brain. Tests at WakeMed showed he had no brain activity.

"God makes no mistakes," Brianne Henry said, adding that she doesn't blame her father for her son's death.

Ty-Rion loved video games, cars and dolphins, but is "now in a better place," she said.

Police consulted with Wake County prosecutors and decided not to file any charges in the case, Raleigh Police Department spokesman Jim Sughrue said.

Wake County schools spokesman Michael Evans said grief counselors were at Lynn Road Elementary on Wednesday and that school officials would send a letter to parents of other students to inform them of the incident.

Evans described the school's faculty and staff as shocked and saddened by the incident.

The shooting was the second tragedy for the family in two months. Brianne Henry said she delivered a stillborn daughter in December.

Ty-Rion's funeral is set for noon March 2 at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Raleigh. His organs are being donated and will help seven children in need, his mother said.