PONTIAC, Mich. – A 14-year-old boy was killed Monday in a shooting in Pontiac, and investigators said it was an accident.
Damari Edward Mahone, 20, of Pontiac, is in police custody after the accidental shooting at a home on Willard Street, near Auburn Avenue and Paddock Street.
Recommended Videos
UPDATE: Pontiac man pleads no contest to charges for 14-year-old cousin's fatal shooting
Mahone is charged with one count of delivering/manufacturing a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony and involuntary manslaughter. Officials said he has no previous criminal history.
“Well, when I woke up and saw all of the news people, here, I was like, 'What is going on?'” Roseta Guy said.
Guy, who lives nearby, said she woke up Monday to a crime scene. Within minutes, she got the news that her neighbor, Yaharre Stennis, of Pontiac, had been shot and killed.
“I always called him 'little man,' because he was so short,” Guy said.
Guy said he was little in stature, but his heart was big.
“He’s a very pleasant, respectable young man. He just goes to school. He always walks the dogs and he plays with all of the children in the neighborhood,” she said.
The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said the shooting happened around 2:30 a.m.
Deputies said someone inside the home had a gun under his mattress. He asked the 14-year old to move from the bed to another location in the home. He told detectives the gun went off accidentally, hitting the 14-year old in the chest.
That news hit very close for Guy.
"Any time anybody has lost a child or any relative, it’s heartfelt. You don’t know how hard it is until it comes to your house,” she said.
Neighbors said the victim was a student at Pontiac Middle School.