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Boy accused of killing eight-year-old girl who refused to let him see puppy Tennessee boy allegedly kills girl in dispute over puppies: 'It's a sad, sad situation'
(about 14 hours later)
An 11-year-old boy faces a murder charge after witnesses say he killed his eight-year-old neighbour because she would not let him see her puppy. An 11-year-old eastern Tennessee boy was in custody for murder on Monday for shooting and killing an eight-year-old neighbor girl with a shotgun because she would not show him her puppies, authorities said.
Latasha Dyer told WATE-TV her daughter was playing outside when the next-door neighbour asked to see the puppy. She said the girl, McKayla, told the boy “no” and the boy then shot her. The unidentified boy was talking to three girls who were outside the window of his mobile home on Saturday evening and asked one of them if he could see her two new puppies, but the girl refused, according to Jefferson County sheriff GW “Bud” McCoig.
Sheriff Bud McCoig of Jefferson County said the boy used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun to kill McKayla from inside his home. The boy retrieved his father’s 12-gauge shotgun, shot the girl in the chest from the window, and then threw the weapon outside by the girl’s body, McCoig said.
Deputies called to the scene on Saturday in White Pine found McKayla on the ground with a chest wound. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Related: Guns and kids: the youngest casualties of America's infatuation with firearms | Ana Marie Cox
Dyer told the station that McKayla “was a mommy’s girl” who “could always make you smile”. The girl has been identified as Maykayla Dyer, a third-grader at White Pine elementary school. The boy was in fifth grade at the same school, where counselors were on hand Monday to help the other children deal with the news, McCoig said.
“It is a sad, sad situation,” said McCoig. “We hope this don’t ever happen again.”
McCoig said the girl was unresponsive at the scene, and was pronounced dead after being taken to a hospital. The boy, who was unidentified, was taken into custody at his home.
The shooting happened in a trailer park in White Pine, a town of about 2,200 people about 42 miles (68 km) east of Knoxville.