Damion Little Jr., a three-year-old Black child, was known for being inseparable from his mother. He could almost always be found right by her side. "She loved her baby with everything in her," one person wrote. An assistant district attorney would later describe the little boy as "totally innocent."
On the night of January 26, 2019, a domestic dispute in Prichard, Alabama, ended in tragedy. Around 10 p.m., police responded to reports of a shooting at a home on Minnie Turnbow Drive. They found that both Damion and his 23-year-old mother, Jaelin Simone Mayhand, had been shot. According to court documents, an altercation between the boy’s parents had taken place outside the residence. Damion’s father, Damion Little Sr., allegedly fired a handgun, with the shots going into the house.
The bullets struck both mother and child. Damion was rushed to a local hospital, but he did not survive his injuries.
His mother was also wounded but survived.
Law enforcement quickly identified Damion Little Sr., then 22, as the suspect and took him into custody. His charges were upgraded to include two counts of capital murder, attempted murder, and shooting into an occupied dwelling. Under Alabama law, a capital murder charge can be filed if the victim is under the age of 14 or if a death occurs as the result of shooting into an occupied building. The charges made Little Sr. eligible for the death penalty or life in prison without parole.
In February 2019, a Mobile County Circuit Court judge found that there was probable cause to move forward with the case. The judge sent the capital murder charges against Damion Little Sr. to a grand jury for consideration.
