On August 21, 2017, 9-year-old Shaleek Carrears was fatally shot inside his family’s home in Syracuse, New York. The shooting happened at about 2:30 a.m. after his 10-year-old brother found a handgun and, believing it to be a toy, accidentally discharged it. Shaleek was an honor student at Porter School who enjoyed dancing and doing flips.

Investigators traced the Glock 9 mm handgun to a theft from a Syracuse firefighter’s vehicle the previous year. Prosecutors decided not to charge the 10-year-old because the shooting was deemed accidental. Attention then turned to the boys’ father, 44-year-old Jermaine Moore; he was arrested in September 2017 on weapons charges and later pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and illegal weapon possession for leaving a loaded firearm where his children could access it. He received a 3 1/2 year prison sentence.

Shaleek’s family and community mourned a boy who dreamed of being a ninja to protect his father. Does anyone have memories of Shaleek or information about the case to share?