Cops: Friend killed East Point boy accidentally

Police have determined the fatal shooting of a 12-year-old East Point boy by a 14-year-old playmate to be an accident.

Jaquane Butler died from a single shot to the chest from a 12-gauge shotgun.

Jaquane was a seventh-grader at Woodland Middle School. The boy loved to draw and to read and dreamed of being a pro basketball player, his grandmother, Jeanette Butler, told WGCL-TV.

Jaquane and his friend were playing at the older boy’s home at the Eagle’s Crest complex where both youths lived, according to investigators. Family members were outside the apartment.

Police arrived a little after 6 p.m. to find Jaquane unresponsive, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was pronounced dead at South Fulton Hospital.

The older boy, and the weapon he used to shoot Jaquane, were located soon after officers responded to the scene.

Police do not anticipate filing criminal charges against the older boy.