Keith Frierson was ecstatic when he received a new bike for Christmas, one he had been begging for. A few days later, after helping his mother put away groceries, the young man asked if he could go riding with other children at his condominium complex.
Fifteen minutes later, neighbors came screaming and banging on Brittani Frierson’s door. Her son, known as KJ, had been shot. Another 10-year-old boy, police say, fired a single bullet that hit KJ in the neck and head.
“I ran for my life and my son was on the ground,” Frierson said. “He didn’t even have a chance to fight. He had left.”
Other children who witnessed the incident said the boy accused of the shooting was angry and shot his son for losing to him in a bike race, Frierson said. According to one boy, he said, there was no warning or confrontation before the fatal shooting.
“That guy just raised the gun and shot my son,” Frierson said.
The shooting occurred on December 30 at the Foothill Farms complex, a community outside Sacramento. Sheriff’s deputies arrived around 4:30 pm at the scene, where medical personnel performed life-saving efforts before transporting KJ to a local hospital. There he was declared dead.
Keith Frierson, known as KJ, was shot in the neck and head with a single shot from another 10-year-old boy. A memorial erected in his honor in Sacramento.
(Courtesy of the Frierson family)
Frierson is stunned, she said, not only at the loss of her son but also that no murder charges have been filed in his killing.
At an arraignment Wednesday, prosecutors charged Arkete Davis, 53, the boy’s father, with weapons charges, child endangerment and accessory to the crime. He is being held without bail.
Davis’ son was initially arrested and charged with murder, but the charge was dropped, Frierson said.
“There has to be some kind of consequence,” he said. “Not just so I can feel some kind of closure in my heart for myself and my family, so I can start crying. “I feel like I can’t even cry until I know something is done.”
In an email, the Sacramento County district attorney’s office stated that ethics rules prohibited the office from commenting while the case against Davis was pending. He also noted that juvenile matters are confidential, as required by California law.
Instead, the district attorney’s office referred to a statement about Davis that prosecutors made in the courtroom: “Based on the facts currently known, sole criminal responsibility for the child’s death rested solely with this defendant.” .
According to investigators, Davis’ son was looking for cigarettes for his father when he found a gun inside the man’s car. Witnesses told detectives that the boy took the gun out of the vehicle, bragged that it was his father’s gun, and then shot KJ.
Prosecutors have alleged that witnesses heard the 10-year-old boy proclaim, “Look, I told you my dad had a gun” before shooting.
Frierson said she personally watched videos taken by witnesses that showed Davis stuffing the gun into a bag and discarding it in a trash can after the shooting, then running toward his home before police arrived.
“He [Davis] “He was the first adult to come out,” he said. “He didn’t even help or come close to my son.”
Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office homicide detectives reported finding the gun in a nearby trash can after searching the scene.
As a convicted felon, Davis was legally prohibited from owning or possessing a firearm. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the gun recovered from Davis’ possession had been reported stolen in 2017.
Frierson said he rarely interacted with Davis; He only remembered one encounter more than a year ago, which he described as unpleasant. His son, however, frequently knocked on his door and asked if his children could play. They played often and KJ considered him a friend.
“I can’t understand what would make a 10-year-old feel like this is how he solves his problems,” she said.
He said it was an injustice that Davis’s son did not immediately face legal consequences for his actions. She acknowledged the boy’s youth, but believes there should be some repercussions for KJ’s death.
“I don’t think he fully understands the effects his actions have on the family and the community,” Frierson said. “[But] he knows what happens when you use a gun. He knew how to use it. He had no problem pulling the trigger.”
The day KJ was killed, Frierson, along with her two children and Nina Trepagnier, her best friend of 20 years, had plans to create their vision boards for 2024. Trepagnier had just gotten off the phone with Frierson when she received another call informing her that KJ had been murdered. She said she just started screaming.
Brittani Frierson and her son Keith Frierson, known as KJ, in Sacramento.
(Courtesy of the Frierson family)
Trepagnier described KJ as a “very sweet boy” who helped the elderly residents of his complex take out the trash and carry groceries.
“This baby wanted to be a police officer,” he said. “He always obeyed the rules.”
Trepagnier said KJ’s murder has had a chilling effect on the community.
Since his death, he said, children at the complex have stopped playing outside. The balls and toys they were once offered to play with are no longer there. Parents are now keeping their children at home.
Residents of the community have organized and maintained a nightly candlelight vigil in memory of KJ, and recently braved the rain to hold the memorial. With the help of the community and caring donors, the family has raised nearly $15,000 for funeral services.
“The next step for me is to celebrate my son,” Frierson said. “Then after that, you have to do something. I will not stop. “I want you to listen to me.”
