After child's gun death, a family turns pain into purpose
Almost daily, another North Carolinian, often a child, is killed or wounded by gunfire. In many cases, that trauma could be prevented – by a responsible gun owner storing weapons safely.
There are at least 1.7 million homes in North Carolina with guns. More than half of those homeowners – 840,000 – say they have a gun that is not stored safely.
There is a North Carolina law that is supposed to punish gun owners who don’t secure their weapons. But one family told WRAL that it is not working.
Jenesis Dockery was just days shy of her ninth birthday when she was shot and killed by her babysitter’s 11-year-old son who had stolen a gun from his grandfather.
Her story was the subject of the WRAL Documentary: Unsafe: North Carolina Kids Dying from Gun Violence.
Almost a year after her death, Jenesis' father, Fon Dockery, talks to his followers on TikTok to work through his grief. He calls his videos "Painful but possible."
"It felt like what we wanted to be expressed, exactly,” he says.
The Dockery family is turning their pain into purpose.
They recently held public screening of the documentary to announce their non-profit. The Live Like Jenesis project is a push for awareness of safe gun storage and accountability for those who don’t secure their guns.
"I believe personally that the safe and secure gun storage laws in North Carolina are very lax," says Fon Dockery.
The existing law allows for misdemeanor charges against someone who stores a gun in a way that a minor can access it and then use it.
In Jenesis' case, the alleged shooter's mother said her 11-year-old son figured out that his grandfather never changed his gun safe code from the generic code it came with.
She blames him for that oversight.
"I honestly believe it would not have happened if he would’ve changed his code," the woman told WRAL News.
Dockery family attorney Harry Daniels believes that mother and the grandfather of the alleged shooter should be held accountable.
"If the facts and the evidence point towards some type of negligence or gross negligence," he said.
"I think a lot of people need to understand that a prosecution, a criminal conviction, never bring anybody it back, but it start a process of closure."
The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office filed a complaint with the Division of Juvenile Justice alleging two counts of larceny and one count of manslaughter were warranted against the 11-year-old. That boy entered the juvenile equivalent of a guilty plea and was placed on probation.
His mother and grandfather were never charged.
The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office told WRAL:
“The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office thoroughly investigated this case and potential suspects, and we have reviewed all the evidence, and there was not sufficient evidence to support probable cause for us to charge anyone other than the juvenile who was charged.
As in any other case, if sufficient evidence is discovered to support additional charges against other persons, we would charge. At the time of the charging decisions in this case, we reviewed the evidence and worked closely with the District Attorney's Office to determine whether sufficient evidence was available to charge anyone other than the juvenile. We, and the District Attorney's Office, concluded that there was not.”
In February, a 3-year-old shot and killed himself in Greenville North Carolina.
Police Chief Ted Sauls said at a news conference that a teenager had stolen a gun from a secured safe in the house and left it out, where the toddler could get the gun.
No adults were charged in that case either.
The Greenville Police Department spokesperson told WRAL:
Unfortunately, despite efforts to properly store firearms, no method is 100% fool proof. Children and teenagers are very resourceful. We have seen cases where they have learned passwords by watching someone access a safe, figured out where a key is hidden, used tools to pry open a safe, etc.
"If a 3-year-old got hold of it, I don't care what you say, that weapon was not secure," says Fon Dockery.
The confusion and inconsistency in how and when the state's secure storage law is applied add more fuel to the Dockerys' fight for change.
Jenesis Dockery's parents are continuing to meet with local and state officials and planning more safe storage awareness events in the coming months.
Gun safety resources: Get a free gun lock
Learn about how to store your firearms safely at home and on the go, how to talk to your children about gun safety and how to make sure that schools and playdates are a safe environment from NC S.A.F.E.
Download a free gun safety kit or request a free gun lock from Project Child Safe.
The Durham County Gun Safety Program also offers outreach events, best safety practices and free gun locks on request.
