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'It broke my heart': Youth charged in shooting death of newborn

A youth was charged in the shooting death of a newborn baby, officials confirmed on Sunday.

Posted Updated

By
Jessica Patrick
, WRAL digital journalist
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — A youth was charged in the shooting death of a newborn baby, officials confirmed on Sunday.

On Friday around 7 p.m., officers responded to a home along Cricket Road and Firefly Street. According to officials with the Cumberland County Sheriff's Office, a 21-day-old newborn was shot by a youth, whose name and age were not provided.

The baby died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center as a result of the shooting.

"We heard a woman just come outside. (She was) screaming, hollering, pounding on the ground, obviously devastated about something," said Rachel Ellison, who lives nearby. "The family was just devastated."

Neighbors said the baby was put into the ambulance immediately, but the baby later died at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.

"Someone just picked up the baby and it was dangling. There was no life to it," said Gage Legere, who lives nearby.

"It just broke my heart. Honestly, just watching the baby being carried to the ambulance. It was devastating," said Ellison.

The youth was in custody Sunday and was charged with the baby's death.

The property owner said a woman lives in this home with two children.

Officials were still investigating. Limited information was provided on what caused the shooting or if it was an accident as first reported by law enforcement.

Officials confirmed on Sunday that an infant died over the weekend in an accidental shooting.
Editor's Note: Law enforcement first stated that the suspect and baby were related. That information has been corrected to reflect that the two are not family members.

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