Funeral Held For NC Boy, Fatally Shot By Neighbor While Playing

NORTH CAROLINA — A five-year-old North Carolina boy, gunned down by a neighbor as he played in his yard earlier this week was laid to rest. Authorities have charged the boy's next door neighbor, who was identified as Darrius Sessoms, 25, with first-degree murder.

The Aug. 9 shooting occurred in the front yard of the family home in the 5100 block of Archers Road in Wilson, North Carolina, shortly before 5:30 p.m., according to the Wilson Police Department.

When responding officers arrived, they found Cannon Blake Hinnant, 5, with a gunshot wound. He was transported to Wilson Medical Center, where he was later pronounced dead.

Later that night, police identified Sessoms as the suspect in the shooting and issued a warrant for his arrest. Following a regional manhunt, Sessoms was located in a home in Goldsboro, North Carolina and taken into custody the following day.

Sessoms was denied bond, WITN reported.

The boy's family say they don't know what would prompt Sessoms, who lived next door to Cannon's father for years, to shoot him at point black range according to reports. The night before Cannon was killed, Sessoms and the boy's father shared a beer, WNCN reported.

Days following the slaying, Cannon's paternal grandmother launched a GoFundMe campaign, seeking donations for funeral expenses.

"On Sunday, August 9th, this precious angel was playing outside with his siblings when he was murdered," Gwen Hinnant wrote on the GoFundMe site. "He was merely doing what he would do any other day and that’s playing with his sisters, riding his bike, doing what kids do and all of the innocence that comes with being a child."

As of Friday afternoon, the campaign had received more than $411,000 in donations.

Cannon is survived by his mother Bonny Waddell, his father Austin Hinnant and stepfather Lee Parker, as well as two brothers and two sisters, according to his obituary. His funeral took place Aug. 13 at Shingleton Funeral Home in Wilson, North Carolina.