4-year-old shot Dead by Accidental shooting by Stolen AR-15 in Atlanta, Flatmate shot the boy and then hid the Gun

Atlanta, GA: A 4-year-old boy was shot dead by accidental shooting in an apartment in Atlanta. The kid used to live in the apartment with his mother and one sibling. Another man used to share the apartment with them.
The man, identified as James Lee Evans Jr., was present at the site of the shooting.
According to the prosecution, James Lee Evans Jr. was aware of the circumstances surrounding the acquisition of an AR-15 by a woman whose two young children he lived with in an apartment. Additionally, he was aware of the manner in which a rifle fatally shot a 4-year-old.
However, Evans first provided investigators with contradictory information. According to him, a drive-by shooting involving gangs had claimed the life of youngster Mason Piercy.
Following an extensive manhunt for the gunman, Evans admitted he had buried the weapon after the youngster was shot and knew exactly where it was.
According to District Attorney Marie Broder of the Griffin Judicial Circuit, Evans was handed a 10-year jail sentence earlier this month by a judge in Spalding County.
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The anti-gun advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety reports that Mason is only one of hundreds of youngsters killed or wounded in accidental shootings each year. With 194 unintentional shootings affecting minors between 2015 and 2023, Georgia ranked tenth in the country for this crime.
Bullets ripped into their Athens home earlier this month, killing a 3-year-old and injuring another kid as they watched television, according to the police. The shooting is allegedly the work of three juveniles.
The gun that was found at the foot of the bed, close to the area where Mason and his younger brother, who was two years old at the time, were playing was allegedly taken by Evans in the Spalding case. Mason was shot in the hand and abdomen on February 3, 2022, when Evans beckoned to the kid to climb on the bed. Days subsequent to his injuries, he passed away.
Investigators said that moments after leaving the Griffin apartment with the gun, Evans buried it under a mattress and box spring that were placed on a road behind the complex. Loaded it remained.
Before confessing, Evans led authorities on a quest for a shooter; prosecutors said he was a known gang member. The weapon was recovered by investigators in September 2021, after having been reported stolen the previous year.
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In a statement, Broder’s office stated that ballistics testing had proven the weapon’s use in many gang-related drive-by shootings in the Griffin region in the months leading up to Mason’s death.
Jamacia Lyons, who is Mason’s mother, and Evans were first charged with two charges of second-degree cruelty to minors, reckless conduct, and lying to the police. Possession of the firearm and gang-related charges were also filed against Evans.
According to Broder, Lyons pled guilty to the lower charge of involuntary manslaughter and promised to testify against Evans before the trial began. The First Offender Act resulted in a probationary term of ten years for Lyons.
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Following a guilty verdict by the jury, Judge Scott Ballard handed down a 10-year prison term to Evans. On March 14, he was transferred to the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, as reported by the state department of prisons.