An 11-year-old boy faces a murder charge after witnesses say he killed his eight-year-old neighbour because she would not let him see her puppy.
Latasha Dyer said her daughter McKayla was playing outside when the next-door neighbour asked to see the puppy. She said that when McKayla told the boy “no” he shot her.
Jefferson County Sheriff Bud McCoig said the boy used his father’s 12-gauge shotgun to shot McKayla from inside his home.
Police called to the scene on Saturday in White Pine, Tennessee, found McKayla on the ground with a chest wound. She was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Ms Dyer said McKayla “was a mommy’s girl” who “could always make you smile”.
“She was a precious little girl. She was a mommy’s girl. No matter how bad of a mood you were in, she could always make you smile,” Dyer told TV station WATE-TV. “I want her back in my arms.”