Boy Tied to Girl’s Shooting Lived Amid Guns, Drugs

The 6-year-old boy who allegedly shot and killed his first-grade classmate had been living in a drug-infested flophouse where police found stolen guns and a cache of drugs, authorities said Wednesday. The child had a history of violence at school, his father reported from his jail cell--and did not even have a bed to sleep on.

Police said the boy found a loaded handgun under blankets in a bedroom at the dilapidated wood frame house and took it with him to school Tuesday, when he shot and killed a 6-year-old girl. The boy had been living there with his 8-year-old brother and an uncle. The boy’s mother had been living elsewhere in the week since the family had been evicted from a home nearby, authorities said.

Police on Wednesday arrested the boy’s uncle, Sir Marcus Winfrey, on an unrelated felony warrant, and took another man who lived at the house into custody. Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur A. Busch said he expected to charge Winfrey in connection with a loaded shotgun and illicit drugs seized from the house. The second man was questioned in connection with the .32-caliber semiautomatic gun used in the shooting. That weapon, too, was stolen, police said.

Busch expressed condolences for the family of Kayla Rolland as well as compassion for the boy, who he said is a victim of a drug culture.

“A child of 6 shouldn’t have to grow up in a flophouse where strange people are coming in at all times, where there’s the presence of drugs and guns,” Busch said. “This community needs to recognize that this little guy needs all the help and support we can give him.”

Kayla was remembered by friends as a kind, smiling girl who enjoyed attending church and was a fan of TV’s “Barney.” “She had a heart of gold. She would help anybody,” said 11-year-old Angel Rainey, who used to baby-sit for Kayla. “She was a sweetheart.” Kayla lived with her mother and stepfather and would travel to Tawas City, near Lake Huron, to see her father. She is survived by a 10-year-old brother and a sister of 11.

‘Almost More Than Anyone Can Imagine’

The sordid details of the boy’s recent history added poignance to the heartbreaking and nearly unfathomable story of one 6-year-old turning a firearm on another and pulling the trigger.

“It’s almost more than anyone can imagine, it’s unreal that these babies were involved in something like this,” said the Rev. Birdie Schields, whose church across the street from Buell Elementary School was used to reunite parents with children after the shooting.

Police confirmed that the dead girl had quarreled with the boy in school on Monday. Kayla--the best reader in her class and a child described as fearless by relatives--was reportedly angered at the boy because he had spat on her desk. Busch added that there may have been a playground scuffle between the two. Questioned Wednesday, the boy told investigators he had only been trying to scare Kayla.

The boy’s father, 29, who has been in jail since February for a parole violation on a burglary charge, told Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell that his son had been suspended from school three times, once for stabbing another student with a pencil and twice for fighting. School district officials would not comment on those statements, nor on reports that the boy was scheduled to receive anger-management counseling at the school next week. Police did not identify the father.

The boy’s compliant and childlike comportment while in police custody belied his aggressive act. He was described by authorities as utterly failing to understand the implications of what he had done. Police Chief Eric King said that after being questioned about the shooting by investigators Tuesday night, the boy continued to sit at a table and avidly draw pictures on a piece of paper.

Busch said that because of the boy’s age, it is unlikely that charges will be filed against him. The boy spent the night in the care of an aunt, Busch said. The prosecutor said later that the state’s Family Independence Agency has filed a neglect action as a first step toward removing the boy from his parents’ custody.

“It is my position that we have enough evidence to prove child neglect,” Busch said.

The child’s home life offered a glimpse into the darker side of what seems to be a quiet enclave north of Flint in central Michigan. The area has been hard-hit by layoffs from the General Motors plants that used to dot the landscape. More than 80% of the children in the school district qualify for a reduced-cost school lunch program.

The working-class neighborhood called Beecher is populated with churches on seemingly every corner--faced across the street by liquor or “party” stores. Both the boy and his victim lived near the school, which neighbors consider a gem.

The low-slung brick building was closed Wednesday and the ground in front of the front doors was bedecked with flowers and candles that flickered in a wet wind. The school’s Tree of Bravery, a small Scotch pine, still held Christmas decorations.

According to Det. Michael Caldwell of the Flint Police Department, the boy’s family was evicted from its home last week and had since been staying at the house on Juliah Street. The two-story house with peeling white paint is infamous among neighbors for drug dealing and the frequent comings and goings of strangers.

The lot is strewn with trash and a black Camaro sits on blocks in what would be the front yard if any grass could take hold. According to Genesee County tax records, the battered house was sold in September for $16,000. There was no answer at the home of the owners, who live in the upscale suburb of Grand Blanc.

“They should just tear it down,” said Maria Anderson, who spoke from behind bulletproof glass at the convenience store she owns at the end of the street. “The neighbors all know what goes on there--drugs and whatnot. You hear guns going off.”

Troubled Child Isn’t Alone, Neighbor Says

Another neighbor said he didn’t know anyone who lived in the house but said the young boy’s bleak outlook was shared by other children in the blighted neighborhood.

“They have nothing to live for, they don’t know anything except drugs, prostitutes and stealing,” he said, gesturing toward still more rundown homes with rusted cars anchored in the mud of backyards. “No one cares about these kids and they get nothing.”

Pickell said that the boy’s father told him the child had been living with crack dealers in the house for at least a week and that the occupants sold drugs in return for guns and other stolen items. Authorities said the two brothers slept together on a couch in the two-bedroom home.

The father told a local television station he would fight to retain custody of his two sons.

“He told me that when another inmate told him that the shootings were at Buell, he knew it was his son,” Pickell said. “He [the father] said he asked his son why he got into so many fights. The boy said, ‘I hate them all.’ ”