WILSON, N.C. — On Sunday, Darius Sessoms, 25, allegedly murdered a little boy playing next door, Cannon Hinnant, 5, in front of the boy’s two sisters.
Sessoms, who lived next door from the victim’s father, ran across the lawn to Hinnant and shot him in the head at point-black range as his two sisters, ages seven and eight, looked on, neighbors said, according to WRAL. Hinnant was in the front yard riding his bike at the time he was murdered.
The boy’s father, too distraught to speak to local news on camera, was heard screaming after the shooting, witnesses said. The man rushed out to hold his bleeding son before Hinnant was taken to a nearby medical center, where he was later pronounced dead.
Sessoms took off in a black vehicle after the shooting and was not apprehended until Monday by U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, Goldsboro police, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, according to WRAL.
The suspect has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Wilson County Jail, Daily Wire reported.
During a court hearing on Tuesday morning, the report noted, Sessoms “said he planned to hire his own lawyer and rejected an attempt to have a judge appoint an attorney for him.”
“Our neighbor saw it,” one neighbor recalled, according to ABC 11 Eyewitness News. “She said he (Sessoms) just — the young man just walked up to the little boy who was just sitting on his bike.”
“I just don’t understand why he did it,” the neighbor added. “How can you walk up to a little boy point-blank and put a gun to his head, and just shoot him? How can anyone do that?”
The suspect reportedly had dinner with the victim’s family on Friday night, two nights before the shooting, according to WRAL.com, and Sessoms was at the family’s home the afternoon preceding the murder.
The report noted that the shooting was “not an accident.”
The five-year-old, according to his family, loved to ride his bike and loved animals. He was supposed to start kindergarten next week.
“Say his name,” The Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh said via Twitter. “Five-year-old Cannon Hinnant was executed in cold blood while riding his bike. The accused killer is Darius Sessoms. He allegedly walked up to the boy and shot him dead in front of his sisters. Reverse the races and this is the only thing anyone talks about for a month.”
Say his name. 5 year old Cannon Hinnant was executed in cold blood while riding his bike. The accused killer is Darius Sessoms. He allegedly walked up to the boy and shot him dead in front of his sisters. Reverse the races and this is the only thing anyone talks about for a month pic.twitter.com/5V72YhAOlI
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 11, 2020
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