Mother of 10-year-old shooting victim speaks out - WALB.com, Albany News, Weather, Sports

Mother of 10-year-old shooting victim speaks out

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SMITHVILLE, GA -

Amanda Jenkins will never forget the phone call she got at 6:11 Monday night concerning her son, 10-year-old Rickie Jenkins.

"They told me his leg was bleeding and I thought maybe he was cut by glass or a nail," she said.

But when she got to a home on Railroad Street in Smithville where her son had been playing, she knew immediately it was something more serious than she ever imagined.

"When I got there he was laying in the floor in a puddle of blood. He was shot," she said.

GBI agents say Jenkins and group of kids were playing in the home. A 27-year-old babysitter was there, but the kids wandered into a bedroom closet.

"While the babysitter was in another room, the kids went playing in the bedroom and got in the closet and found the guns," said GBI Special Agent in Charge Danny Jackson.

Agents say a 7-year-old boy was playing with the loaded .410 shotgun when he pulled the trigger, striking little Rickie Jenkins in the thigh.

"I seen how limber how he was," said Jenkins. "I looked in his face, in his eyes, and it was like he wasn't even there."

The rising 4th grader who enjoyed riding his bike and climbing trees died at the hospital.

"It was like one of them dreams where I felt like I was really in that dream and I would wake up. And I kept saying where you at little Rickie? Come back to me wherever you at," said Jenkins.

Agents recovered the shotgun Monday night. Right now charges against the gun owner are pending.

"If you have firearms in your house, you're responsible for making sure they're safe and outside the reach of anybody who doesn't need to have them," said Agent Jackson.

"That's an alert sign. A wake up call. Not to have a loaded firearm around small kids," said Jenkins.

Rickie Jenkins would have started the 4th grade at Twin Oak Elementary in just a few weeks. Funeral services are scheduled for Saturday at Zion Hope Church.

Amanda Jenkins says her son was playing at the home of Ronald Thomas.

Agents wouldn't confirm if he is the owner of the gun.

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