Eleven-year-old boy in custody for manslaughter after shooting 8-year-old girl Jenesis Dockery in the head that his mother was watching after stealing guns from a relative’s safe

An eight-year-old girl has died after her babysitter’s 11-year-old son allegedly shot her in the head with a gun he stole from a relative’s safe.

Jenesis Dockery was shot on July 23 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, just an hour after her father dropped her off at the nanny’s house with her five-year-old sister.

The babysitter’s son allegedly got hold of a gun and shot her in the head. She was rushed to hospital but died two days later.

Jenesis has been described as an energetic young girl who enjoyed making dance videos and “loved everyone.” Her family is heartbroken over her death and is campaigning for justice.

The boy is currently in custody and detectives said there is enough evidence to charge him with manslaughter ABC 11.

Jenesis’ father Fon Dockery said her life was cut short after he dropped her and her younger sister off at the home of a babysitter who had taken care of them many times before.

He got the news that she was shot about an hour later and she died in hospital after two days.

“My daughter’s life was taken tragically,” he said WNCN. “It hurt my heart to think I would be put in a situation where I would have to comfort my youngest daughter.”

“Losing your child is definitely a different kind of pain,” said her mother Kimberly Dockery.

And of course no one understands unless they’ve lost a child. It’s definitely a pain you can’t even describe.’

Fon described Jenesis as a child who “just loved everyone.” He said, ‘She wanted to dance and just live, man. She loved making TikTok videos.”

Her parents have tattoos in her memory and say the loss of their daughter has left them with an “immeasurable” absence.

“This has been a horrible nightmare, it still doesn’t feel real,” Fon said at a press conference on Thursday.

“It’s hard to put into words how we try to navigate three weeks later to do something.”

The family campaigns for justice for Jenesis and awareness of gun violence.

“We wore orange pins the day we buried our daughter — to raise awareness of gun violence,” her father said.

“As much as we want justice for our daughter, this is something no parent should ever do.

“We thank the community, and we ask that you keep supporting and reaching out until the full hand of the law is demanded with justice for our Jenesis.

The family’s lawyer has said the babysitter’s 11-year-old son is accused of shooting the young girl.

The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office Special Victims Unit filed paperwork on Thursday with the Division of Juvenile Justice encouraging it to charge the young boy with manslaughter and two counts of theft of a firearm.

Detectives are also trying to get a custody order for him.

A spokesperson for the state’s Department of Child Justice said it could not share details about specific cases.

“However, when making decisions related to safe custody, staff of the Department of Juvenile Justice and Crime Prevention take any information regarding whether a minor poses a threat to public safety very seriously and respond accordingly,” the spokesperson added.

“DJJDP’s role is to consider the potential risk to public safety, the individual needs of the juvenile and their risk of reoffending when making decisions about how best to address delinquency.”

Lawyer Harry Daniels wants those who gave the child access to guns to be held accountable.

“It is certain that if they had been more diligent and paid attention to the 11-year-old, they would have known that he had (a) fantasy about having guns and posted it on social media,” he said.

Daniels claimed there were multiple social media posts showing the 11-year-old had access to guns.

He said two of the guns involved in the case were stolen from a relative’s safe.

Investigators are awaiting an autopsy and other evidence pending a decision on whether to press charges.

Jenesis’ funeral took place on Wednesday and it featured a fundraising page GoFundMe raised more than $23,000 for her family.