Teen charged in brother’s killing told DeKalb police shooting was ‘accident’
A 17-year-old charged in his brother’s death told DeKalb County police that he fired by accident, an incident report reveals.
The victim, 17-year-old Dimitri Hayes, was found Aug. 22 by responding officers in his stepfather’s arms with a gunshot wound to the chin, an incident report obtained Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows. The victim’s brother eventually admitted to shooting Hayes by “accident” at a home on Young Knoll in a subdivision off Young Road, according to the report.
Xavier Hayes was arrested on charges of felony murder and aggravated assault. He also faces a charge of possessing a weapon as a first offender under the age of 18.
Officers immediately began checking Dimitri Hayes for a pulse, but the report states that authorities could not find one. The teenager was eventually taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The gun used was unloaded by an officer, but another bullet was already on the ground and a hole was in the wall near the area where the gun was located, according to the report.
After officers spoke with the family, Xavier Hayes admitted he and his brother were in the bedroom when “the gun went off” while he was trying to show his brother “how to use the gun,” the report reveals.
Xavier Hayes told the officer that “he did not know the gun was loaded and that it was (an) accident.”
The boys’ sister was inside the bedroom and witnessed the shooting, according to the report. Their parents and all others inside the home were in separate rooms.
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