Bonnie, 73, was enjoying a quiet Wednesday night on her porch. Across the street, a couple of teenagers gathered near the playground at Shady Lane Elementary School.
鈥淚 seen a black car pull up in the gravel, and the kids started walking toward it, and I went ahead and started to step in the house, and as I got one foot inside...the house I heard five fire crackers,鈥� Bonnie says.
But they weren鈥檛 fire crackers. Jaykwon Sharp, 14, had been shot.
Bonnie, who didn鈥檛 want to use her last name out of fear of violence in her neighborhood, says she realized what happened when she came back outside.
鈥淚 looked and that car took off and the kids were screaming and running, and he was standing there by himself and he just put his hand on his stomach,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 went over, and I held his head, and he never said anything, he didn鈥檛 make any noises, he didn't appear to have any pain and I kept telling him to stay with us, stay with us.鈥�
Sharp was transported to an area hospital, where he died about an hour later. Miracle Carolina, 14, was also shot in the leg, but she鈥檚 expected to recover.
Wednesday鈥檚 shooting has left the East Side neighborhood in mourning. In front of the school, where school is still in session, flowers and balloons mark where Sharp died. A few students hug each other and cry, while teddy bears with graduation caps lean against the chain link fence.
The incident stemmed from an argument, police say. The suspect, who hasn鈥檛 been named or arrested as of Friday afternoon, is only 13 years old.
