MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Southwest Memphis community is mourning the shooting death of a nine-year-old girl, the 10th child to die from gun violence in Memphis this year.
James Bowen Jr. is charged with criminally negligent homicide, aggravated child neglect, and convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
Mother’s Day is a day that celebrates giving life, but instead, one Memphis mother grieves a life taken.
“You’ve got a 9-year-old dead and the streets are empty. What’s wrong with us,” asked Stevie Moore, Freedom from Unnecessary Negatives (FUNN) Founder.
Sunday afternoon, Memphis Police responded to a shooting in Southwest Memphis on East Biscayne. When they arrived, MPD said they found a nine-year-old girl who they said was shot by her seven-year-old brother on accident.
Neighbors said moments before the shooting, they saw the siblings playing in the mother’s boyfriend’s car. Investigators identified the boyfriend as James Bowen Jr., and said Bowen told them the boy got the gun from his glove box, and after shooting his sister, ran inside the house to tell them what happened.
“Lock your gun up. Keep it out your car or whatever you have to do,” said Moore.
He said more needs to be done on a legislative level to make sure guns stay out the hands of youth.
“I know they put politics in it that you have a right to carry a gun. Okay, you do. But your right to carry a gun shouldn’t be without restrictions,” said Moore.
Memphis’ Pastor Ricky Floyd is pro-gun and has even held gun safety classes for children.
“We were persecuted about it. It’s not too young to die. It’s not too young to find a gun. It’s not too young, so we need to begin to catch and train them at an early age,” said Pastor Floyd, Pursuit of God Transformation Center. “I know to never assume that a gun is empty. I know never point a gun anybody. Those are a few things that if we teach our kids, a lot of children will still be living today.”
From January to April, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital has treated 53 children for gunshot wounds. That is more than the past three years, in which each year, we’ve hit a record high.
“My problem, my frustration is that our community, we’re not upset,” said Moore. “When the incident happened in Nashville, didn’t they march? Didn’t they come out? Didn’t they make a voice and say we’re tired? Where is our voice Memphis, Tennessee? Where is our voice Shelby County?”
Both Moore and Floyd said their hearts go out to the family, in particular, the seven-year-old boy. They said most times, kids that age don’t fully understand the consequences of having a gun.
Bowen is scheduled to appear in court on these charges Tuesday morning.
Memphis Police told ABC24 that gun locks are available at all precincts, and the precincts are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.