KALAMAZOO, Mich. — A mourning family and his hometown community in Michigan will celebrate the life of a 9-year-old boy Friday who was tragically killed in an accidental shooting in East Point earlier this month.
The celebration of life services for King Javaire Black was live streamed here.
Black died at a home on East Washington Avenue in early June.
Authorities said that they believe the shooting happened inside the home. Two other children were in the house at the time of the shooting, police said.
Investigators had previously said the shooting appeared to be accidental. After further investigation, police said the mother at the home - not King's - is now facing charges for convincing her children to lie about what happened.
Police records show the woman's son was playing with a loaded Glock handgun inside the home and the gun accidentally discharged. King was standing outside the front door and the bullet hit him in the chest, records show.
Police learned about the details when the woman's 6-year-old daughter explained to investigators during an interview she and her brother were told to lie about what happened, a report reveals.
"Another child's life should not be taken because of irresponsibility," Joy Black, King's mother said.
Fulton County jail records show the mother of the child who fired the gun is currently facing two charges of influencing a witness. 11Alive is not naming her because she is not directly accused of King's death.
However, those charges could be upgraded.
East Point Police Chief Shawn Buchanan said the mother left her two children and King alone while she went shopping with the loaded gun in the house.
"She knew the truth. She tried to conceal the truth," Buchanan said. "In addition, (she) actually tried to get the kids to lie about what occurred. This is a tragedy all the way around, but then to try to get the children to lie?"
King's death has prompted further conversations about how to prevent similar tragedies. Officer Njoko with the East Point Police Department says these accidental shootings are unfortunately common.
"We get a lot of incidents where parents leave their guns on the bed, under things, in shoeboxes," she said.
Njoko says there are multiple precautions adults can take if they have a firearm in the home.
"Make sure that the gun is unloaded. the firearm is on safe and the bullets are not in the same place," she said.
The advice is something the City of Atlanta has acted on. In January the Atlanta City Council approved funding to give lock boxes to families for free. At the time, Councilmember Antonio Lewis touted the measure as a way to get guns out of the hand of people who should not have them.
Njoko says education is still the most important way to prevent children from making fatal mistakes.
"Parents should teach their children the importance of gun safety and why you should not touch a gun," she said.