A makeshift memorial for a child killed by another child is seen at an apartment complex in Sacramento County, California. (KCRA)
A 10-year-old California boy who was arrested after allegedly fatally shooting another boy with a stolen gun he’d found in his father’s car will not be charged, the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office told CNN in a statement Thursday.
His father, Arkete Davis, 53, appeared in court and was charged Wednesday with criminal storage of a firearm, two counts of child endangerment and felon in possession of a firearm, among other charges, according to the DA’s office.
“Based on the facts currently known, the sole criminal liability and responsibility for the child’s death (lies) exclusively with this Defendant,” the DA’s office stated.
Authorities said Davis was legally prohibited from possessing or owning a gun, and the recovered firearm had been reported stolen in 2017, CNN previously reported.
Davis’ son was being held in the Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility. His grandmother told CNN affiliate KCRA he was released from custody and is with his mother in Sacramento.
The 10-year-old victim of the Saturday shooting was identified as Keith Frierson.
Deputies said they found the child bleeding from his head and neck in a parking lot while responding to a call of a shooting on Saturday afternoon.
The child was taken to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. He was among more than 1,600 children and teens killed by gun violence in 2023, according to the Gun Violence Archive’s data.
Detectives found a gun in a nearby trash can “where Davis is believed to have tried to dispose of it,” according to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.
Davis is being held without bail and is set to appear in court again on Friday for a bail review, the DA’s office said.
He has not been assigned an attorney, Sacramento County’s Conflict Criminal Defenders told CNN.
CNN’s Paradise Afshar, Chris Boyette, Raja Razek and Holly Yan contributed to this report.
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