Authorities make second arrest in execution-style murder of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant
Authorities have arrested a second suspect in the execution-style shooting death of North Carolina 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant.
What is a brief history?
Suspect Darrius Sessoms, a neighbor to the Hinnant family, reportedly walked up to Cannon as the child rode his bike in the street on Aug. 9.
Eyewitnesses say that they saw Sessoms pull out a gun and execute Hinnant in full view. Cannon's 7-year-old and 8-year-old siblings also witnessed the murder.
Sessoms fled the scene following the incident, but authorities arrested him a day later and charged him with first-degree murder in connection with the killing.
A GoFundMe page to benefit the family received more than $813,000 in donations before it was disabled.
What are the details?
Wilson County, North Carolina, police arrested 21-year-old Aolani Takemi Marie Pettit earlier this week. She was charged with aiding Sessoms after he reportedly murdered the child.
According to local reports, Pettit allegedly helped Sessoms flee from police before he was taken into custody the day after the shooting.
Wilson police in North Carolina said Aolani Takemi Marie Pettit, 21, of Wilson, was arrested Tuesday. https://t.co/byAjIgkcad— WSOCTV (@WSOCTV)1600830560.0
WTVD-TV reported that authorities charged Pettit with felony accessory after the fact. She received a $250,000 secured bond.
Sessoms remains jailed without bond.
The station reported that anyone with information on the case should contact the Wilson Police Department at 252-399-2323 or Crime Stoppers at 252-243-2255.
Anything else?
Following Cannon's mid-August funeral, members of his family spoke out about the great loss of 5-year-old Cannon.
Cannon's grandfather, Merrill Race, said that his "beautiful" grandson loved to play outside.
"We shouldn't even be here," he said.
Of Sessoms, Race added, "That's evil. I never met this guy in my life, but that is one evil dude. He's [in jail] where he should be."
The child's stepfather, Lee Parker, said Cannon "meant the world" to him.
"I received the call, man," he said, recalling the moment he heard the devastating news of his young stepson's death. "I was riding down the road, and I just blacked out, couldn't even think for a few seconds. Took me a minute to register it."
Parker said that he and his family will never get past the child's murder.
"It'll never be behind us," he insisted. "He'll always be with us, but we're going to get through it."
Days before his funeral, Cannon's father said the family is relying on our faith in God to get through the dark times.
The child's mother has publicly announced that she wants prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
"This man will answer to me," Bonny Waddell reportedly posted on Facebook, according to the New York Post. "That man will see me and my son through my face! This sorry excuse as a human being will rot in hell."
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NAACP outraged at North Carolina official over his comment calling for Cannon Hinnant's alleged killer to be hanged
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People denounced a county official in North Carolina who called for the hanging of a man alleged to have shot and killed 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant.
The horrific death of the young boy led to national anguish and outrage, but the NAACP objected in particular to the reaction from Scotland County Commissioner Tim Ivey.
The Scotland County NAACP posted screenshots to their Facebook page showing that Ivey responded, "I got a tree," to another user commenting, "I got a rope," on an article about the atrocious incident.
A letter from the NAACP to the Scotland County commissioners outlined why the civil rights group objected to the comment and demanded an apology from Ivey.
"Of particular concern is Mr. Ivey's implication that the accused person should not be tried and convicted; but rather, he should be sentenced to death without due process of law in much the same way that many people of color have been subjected to in our country," the NAACP said.
Darius Sessoms, 25, is accused of shooting Hinnant, who was riding his bicycle in front of his father's house in Wilson, North Carolina on Aug. 9.
Ivey defends his comment
In his defense, Ivey said that he was not aware of the race or ethnicity of the suspected murderer at the time of his comments.
"At the time the post was made, I had no idea of the race of the person that committed the crime," Ivey said on Wednesday.
"My post was in response to the cold-blooded murder of an innocent child and the circumstances in which they occurred. I later found out the race of the person that committed the crime, and that did not change my response to it, as it should not to any other person," he explained.
Ivey also rejected the criticism that was proposing the suspect be lynched, and said that he supported the due process rights of the suspect.
"I stand behind my position, that all these murders should be dealt with equally and in the most heinous fashion as possible. We must send a very loud message that it will no longer be tolerated. Never once did I say nor elude to the fact that there should not be due process in any of these cases," Ivey said.
Here's more about the death of Cannon Hinnant:
Father of 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant says man accused of killing son was his neighborwww.youtube.com