On August 8, 2023, 11-year-old A’Jaylyn Latrice Waller, known to family as Bae-Bae, died at home in Belzoni, Mississippi, after being shot in the shoulder when a 12-year-old stepbrother was handling a firearm that discharged. The Humphreys County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting at a residence just outside city limits; investigators described the weapon as being in a child’s hands when it went off. Local reporting and national gun-violence databases classify the incident as an accidental child shooting, while authorities charged the 12-year-old with manslaughter–criminal negligence and placed him in a regional juvenile detention center. Investigators also said the children had been home alone and that the Mississippi Department of Child Protection Services became involved; officials indicated additional charges for parents could be pending.

A’Jaylyn’s obituary and memorials describe a child surrounded by family and church, and funeral services were held in Belzoni before burial at Hooper Family Cemetery in Silver City. Outside the family circle, the case appears in national datasets that record children killed by gunfire. If anyone knew A’Jaylyn or has information about the shooting, please come forward to help fill in the unanswered details.