A 3-year-old Tennessee boy was shot and killed by a stray bullet in his home on New Year's Eve, a horrific tragedy that authorities blamed on a “celebratory shooting.”
Police said Brayden Smith was inside his family's northeast Memphis apartment when a bullet came through a window and struck him around 6 p.m. Sunday. told Action News 5.
The infant was rushed to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, but could not be saved. Memphis police confirmed his death Wednesday, according to local broadcasters.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise money to cover the child's funeral costs said: “Our hearts are broken beyond repair by the loss of such a young and innocent life.” ing.
Investigators believe the bullets were fired by someone elsewhere in the apartment complex. The gunman is on the run.
Assistant Police Chief Don Crowe said the shooting may have been related to New Year's Eve festivities because the suspect unloaded the gun into the air.
According to Action News, Crowe “tried to emphasize this month that celebratory shootings are illegal and that we must stop firing guns because celebratory shootings lead to tragic events like this.” Stated.
The Touch by an Angel Foundation, a Memphis ministry, made a donation in his memory Thursday to little Brayden's family.
The boy's grandmother said the boy was special.
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“He was hilarious. I mean, he was his own person,” Tasha Davis told Action News. “He didn't take anything.”
Braden's death was the 398th homicide in Memphis in 2023, the newspaper said, making it the most per capita of any large city in the United States.
