GEORGE ELMORE - 9 yo (2010)/ Accused: 15 yo uncle - New Orleans LA

Family of slain 9-year-old speaks out

by Monica Hernandez / Eyewitness News
Posted on November 26, 2010 at 11:17 PM
Updated Saturday, Nov 27 at 11:33 AM
 
As the holiday season begins, a family will spend the weekend mourning the loss of a 9-year-old boy who was shot and killed earlier this week.

"I love him. And I miss him. And that I wish that he was here with us," said the child's aunt, Ashantra Coston.



Family members described George Elmore, 9, as the spirited jokester of the family. And they feel a void where he once filled the house with laughter.

"You can tell when he's missing. You know his spirit when he is here, and you can tell when he is not around. And it's not the same," said Coston.

Little George was shot to death the night before Thanksgiving. Investigators believe his 15-year-old uncle was holding the gun when it went off. Family members say, George's 12-year-old brother saw everything.

"He told me that his uncle pointed the gun at him first, he told his uncle, get the gun out my face. And he moved the gun from him, and pointed it towards my 9-year-old," said George's mother, Sacha Elmore.

"When he turned and pointed it at my 9-year-old, my 9-year-old told him something, and turned around I guess to leave the room, and as he turned, I guess, the gun went off," added Elmore.

Elmore said her sons were paying a brief visit to her in-laws in Marrero at the time, while she waited for her own mother to come into town for Thanksgiving.

"He's not ever going to come back and see my mama, and it's been years since he's seen her," said Elmore.

"When I got to the house, everybody's eyes were red, and I'm wondering why their eyes are red," said Anetra Jackson, George's grandmother. "And I walk through the door, and they tell me Georgie's dead."

Detectives believe George's uncle bought the gun off the streets, and are investigating who might have sold it to him. The 15-year-old has been charged with possession of a handgun by a juvenile and negligent homicide.

But some of George's family members believe, the shooting was no accident.

"It wasn't no accident. You go under the mattress and pull a gun out, that's no accident. That's stupidity," said Jackson.  

According to family members, George's uncle was already on house arrest when he shot his young nephew.

"All the chances that the law gave him, he ended up taking my grandson's life," said Jackson.

And George's mother believes, the 15-year-old's parents, who are also her in-laws, should be held at least partially accountable.

"His mother and them knew he was good for playing with guns. He was a child that had a bad behavior problem also. So it's not like this was something new to them, they knew the things that he was doing," said Elmore.

Jefferson Parish officials said they don't believe any criminal culpability lies on the teen's parents.

Officials have also arrested another teen in the case for allegedly trying to hide the gun after the shooting. They were able to recover the weapon.

Meanwhile, George's mother continues to cope with her loss.

"I miss my baby so bad, and I just wish I could have told him 'bye,'" said Elmore.

A George A. Elmore Memorial Fund has been set up to help pay for the young boy's funeral. You can make a donation at any Capital One Bank branch.

http://www.wwltv.com/news/Family-of-slain-9-year-old-speaks-out-110890999.html

Two teens arrested in shooting of 9-year-old Marrero boy

Kari Dequine, Times Picayune By Kari Dequine, Times Picayune
on November 25, 2010 at 1:06 PM

It was a quiet and somber Thanksgiving morning in a Marrero neighborhood after a Wednesday night gathering turned into tragedy as a teenager handling an illegally purchased firearm shot and killed another boy.

No one answered the door at 1212 Lincoln St., where at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, deputies found 9-year-old George Elmore on the living room floor suffering from a gunshot wound to the head. Elmore was transported to a hospital where shortly after arriving, he was pronounced dead.

Jefferson Parish Homicide Detective Rhonda Goff reported that George, who lived in the house, was hanging out in a rear bedroom with a 15-year-old boy, whom police described as George's uncle, and a 16-year-old boy when the 9mm semi-automatic handgun discharged, hitting George in the head.

After conducting interviews with both teenagers in the presence of their parents, Goff learned that the gun had been purchased "on the street" by the 15-year-old.

Crime scene investigators found the weapon in a barbeque pit in the backyard of the home two streets over in the 1100 block of Cohen, where Goff reported the 15-year-old hid the gun shortly after the fatal shooting occurred.

Following the interview, both boys were arrested and transported to the Rivarde Juvenile Detention Center in Harvey. The 15-year-old was booked with one count each of negligent homicide and illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile. The 16-year-old was booked with one count each of obstruction of justice as well as illegal possession of a handgun by a juvenile.

A neighbor across the street said that the people who lived in the house were relatively new to the Ames Terrace subdivision, and a family with whom they were not acquainted. "They were like strangers in the neighborhood," she said.

Neighbors said that prior to the shooting, there had been numerous cars parked outside and many people coming and going from the house. "All I heard was screaming," said the woman living across the street, who was home at the time of the fatal shooting.

Next door, a man was visiting his parents from out of town for the Thanksgiving holiday. He said his parents, who had been in the neighborhood for many years, did not know their neighbors. "It's a sad thing but it's a sign of the times," he said. "These are perilous times." The man said the neighborhood was very different from when he had lived there as a child.

Anyone with information about either shooting is asked to call the Detectives Bureau, 504.364.5300.

http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2010/11/a_somber_thanksgiving_in_marre.html