13 year old boy shot in Charlotte, North Carolina

This story is another example of the pain left behind when a young person is killed by bullets. In Charlotte, North Carolina, a 13 year old boy who had aspirations for college and was trying to make it in a difficult world, was shot to death by a friend. Here is more about this incident:

Hours after police had cleared the crime scene, family and friends of 13-year-old Khalil Malik Cousart walked to the spot where the rising eighth-grader had been fatally shot early Tuesday.

They placed flowers, a colorful pinwheel and a sign that read “RIP Khalil” by a broken white picket fence bordering a church at the west Charlotte intersection. They struggled to understand the circumstances that led police to charge Khalil’s 16-year-old friend, Damien Wright, with his murder.

“It just seems surreal, like I’m dreaming or something,” said Khalil’s older brother, Kyan Orr. “I wish someone would wake me up.”

Khalil’s death is at least the fourth fatal shooting of a teen in Charlotte this year – the third in the last five weeks.

Wright was charged with first-degree murder and was being held Tuesday in the Mecklenburg jail without bond.

More details about this incident:

According to police, a young male waved down a passing motorist around 1 a.m. Tuesday at the corner of Tuckaseegee Road and Parkway Avenue and said someone had been shot. The motorist called police, and responding officers said they found Khalil on the ground, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Paramedics took him to Carolinas Medical Center, where the teen was soon pronounced dead.

Police have not described what led up to the gunshots, saying only that Khalil and Wright knew each other and that the shooting was not random.

Tiarra Dukes, 17, who lives across the street, said she heard multiple gunshots around 1 a.m. She knew both teens, but didn’t know what might have led to the shooting.

“Everybody in the neighborhood hangs out all the time,” she said.

Khalil appeared to be a popular boy who was well-liked by many. From the article:

“He was a fantastic young guy,” Jarrell said, describing Khalil as a bright young man who was often seen riding his bicycle through the neighborhood talking to people.

Jarrell said his two children adored Khalil. “He was like a part of the family,” he said.

On his Facebook page, Khalil wrote, “I’m just a swagged up boy tryin to survive and make it to (that) big college.”

Orr said his brother was outgoing and had many friends. He described him as an “all-around kid” who also liked music and had earned A’s and B’s at Ashley Park school in west Charlotte.

“Can’t nobody ever duplicate him. There will always be one Khalil,” Orr said.

Khalil liked sports, including football and basketball, and was looking forward to playing with a team at the Naomi Drenan Recreation Center in the coming months, said Bonita Walker, an aunt.

Khalil’s shooting came just three months after a man he considered family was killed, relatives said.

This is the 4th teen homicide in Charlotte this year. Three of them have occurred in the last 5 weeks.