By Thomas Ellis II
It’s really a shame that an 8 year old is dead because someone was careless with a gun, leaving the gun unsecured, and with bullets loaded inside the chamber.
We have to understand that if there is a gun in the house, it should be secured at all times There is no excuse. It is irresponsible for people to leave a gun around in the house, under the bed, behind the closet door, under a bunch of clothes, etc. If you have small children or other family members in your household, the first rule of gun safety is to secure the weapon.
Now from the act of not caring, not securing, and not knowing that a gun is very dangerous, all it takes is one little touch of the trigger and it will go off, and seriously injure someone or even kill them or someone else.
On the night of Sunday, Aug. 29, Newark Police officers went to the 100 block of Schuyler Avenue in Newark where there was a report of an eight-year-old, later ID’d as Jahmeer Allen, suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The preliminary investigation indicates the child, who is disabled and, in a wheelchair, sustained fatal injuries. At the time of the shooting there was a 10-year-old in the house and Jahnaya Black, the victim’s aunt, who was sleeping.
At this time three adults have been charged. Shaneefah Allen, 43, the grandmother and legal guardian of the victim, and Black, 23, the aunt, have both been charged with second degree endangering the welfare of a child. Allen was not home at the time the shooting occurred. Black was the only adult in the home when it happened.
Marquis Wright, 18, the victim’s uncle, was charged with second degree unlawful possession of a weapon; third degree endangering the welfare of a child; third degree transporting a manufactured firearm without a serial number and the disorderly persons offense of allowing a minor access to a loaded firearm. It is alleged that Wright brought the gun into the apartment and left it unattended.
Although two women are in custody. Wright remains at large as of the deadline to this article. Someone needs to find him, and turn him into the NPD, or speak with him or family members, and tell him to turn himself in.
This is such a tragic incident which affected many; the family members, friends of the family, the school, and the classmates of the 8 year old, his friends on the block, and the community.
I hear all the time that it’s too many guns in the community whenever a senseless act of gun violence happens or an innocent child, teenager or adult takes his or her life accidently, and that cry is absolutely right. There are too many unregistered, unpermitted, unlicensed illegal guns in our communities, and a weapon in the hands of irresponsible people makes it even more dangerous. So people need to be very careful when they are around people with guns, or if there is a gun just lying around, or if you just happen to stumble upon a gun in your house.
One of the things that’s needed in these communities across the country where there are high incidents of guns and violence is gun education, gun safety, and gun violence prevention. We may not be able to reach everyone, but if we could just reach one person at a time, it can save countless lives.
Let’s pray for the 8 year old’s family, and all those families in Newark and Essex County who have lost a loved one to gun violence. There have been a lot of families who have had to endure the pain of losing a loved one to senseless gun violence over the past few weeks and months.
