An Indiana mom was shot dead just days after burying her 5-year-old son, who was also a victim of gunfire, authorities said.
“I don’t know if I have any tears left,” South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski told WSBT as he confirmed the double loss for the same family this month.
Mom Kaylynn Davidson, 32, had buried her son Kyler Jackson on Thursday last week after he died from being accidentally shot by a 9-year-old nephew, the outlet said.
Then on Tuesday night — five days after the burial — the mother was herself gunned down during a fight outside a restaurant, police confirmed.
“I can’t even imagine or fathom what that family is going to have to contend with from here on out,” Ruszkowski told the outlet of the family “doubly affected” and “still reeling.”
Councilman Pastor Canneth Lee, who led the young boy’s funeral and broke news of his mom’s death to the rest of the family, stressed that it was also a trauma for Jackson’s cousin, who accidentally shot him May 1.
“They have had three tragedies: Kyler, the nephew and now Kyler’s mom,” Lee told the station.
“This is a tragedy for our city because violence is a disease,” the pastor said.
Police have not detailed exactly how the youngster was shot, beyond calling it a “tragic accident,” the South Bend Tribune noted.
An attorney for the family, Hamid Saahir, told the paper, “Kyler died from an unfortunate circumstance involving children with access to handguns.” He did not elaborate on how they got their hands on the weapon.
On Tuesday, the dead boy’s still-grieving mom was caught on videos walking out of a restaurant and hitting another woman, with “multiple people” trying to break up the fight, the paper said.
The other woman pulled a handgun and fired “multiple shots” at a fleeing Davidson, before walking back into the restaurant, the paper said, citing court documents.
Kimarie Wright, 26, was charged with murder and manslaughter, the Tribune said.
“While the evidence suggests that the victim may have engaged in a physical altercation with the defendant, due to the lack of imminent threat toward Wright or a third person, the prosecutor’s office did not find that the homicide was justifiable,” prosecutors said.