The family of an 11-year-old killed over the weekend in an East Oak Cliff shooting issued a plea to end violence in the community.
During a press conference, the victim’s mother, Vashunte Settles, said that her 11-year-old son, De’Evan McFall, was a very talented athlete. She said he loved going to school and hanging out with his friends.
“He loved to make people smile. He was a great child,” she said.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, McFall was an innocent bystander when a fight broke out between two teenage girls in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Southern Oaks Boulevard.
Witness Aisha Oliver told Fox 4 that she saw one of the girls had a gun. The girl then allegedly fired it at the other girl but missed — shooting and killing McFall.
“I don’t know how the tussle had happened when the girl got the gun,” she said. “But she did, and she shot the little boy.”
The 14-year-old suspect is in custody after being found at a nearby apartment complex later that same day. Police have yet to give much information but say that she is now being held on a murder charge as a juvenile.
Although vocal about wanting to see the 14-year-old girl formally charged with murder, McFall’s family has also been careful not to discuss the case.
“I really can’t go into details about that because it’s an ongoing investigation. It’s just something that went wrong,” Settles said at the press conference.
The tragedy truly struck close to home, as the families of both McFall and the suspect had known each other for years, per Fox 4.
As family spokesperson Pastor Bishop Reshunn Chambers described during a heartfelt moment at the press conference, “Most of them have grown up with each other kind of like back in the old days. Everybody at your house, everybody at my house.”
It is likely with this community spirit in mind that McFall’s family pleaded for local youth to put down the guns and stop the violence.
“No more violence,” said Chambers, per CBS 11. “We need the world to know that there is a better way. We don’t have to resort to violence.”
The boy’s grandmother, Lois Williams, said her heart is broken because she’ll never see her grandson again.
“I’ll never get to hear my baby say, ‘GG, I love you,’ as he walked out the door,” she said. “I’ll never get to see his dimples. Please, people, stop killing each other. I never thought I would say this for one of my babies.”
“I don’t want nobody else to have to feel like this,” said Settles.
McCall’s death comes on the heels of a spike in violence in Dallas since the beginning of the new year.
The incident took place in city council District 1, the domain of Councilman Chad West, who has been named Crime Boss of the Month four different times in 2022.
At least 14 murders have been committed within the city limits as of January 17, ahead of what the City counted in 2022 year-to-date, according to the City of Dallas Open Data crime analytics dashboard.
Aggravated assaults are also up citywide by a significant margin of 76 incidents, and Dallas residents have seen little in the way of a response from elected City leaders.