Parents Indicted in Child-to-Child Shooting Death

Dec. 9, 2020 – The parents of a 13-year-old boy who shot and killed his 9-year-old cousin while playing with his father’s gun have been indicted on charges of criminally negligent homicide, said Shelby County Dist. Atty. Gen. Amy Weirich.

The defendants, Latria Johnson, 28, and boyfriend Lindsey Williams, 27, also were indicted on a count of reckless endangerment. Williams additionally was indicted on a charge of resisting official detention at the homicide scene.

Investigators said the shooting occurred on March 13, 2020, in the Canterbury Woods Apartments in the Cordova area where the two boys were left alone while their mothers went shopping.

Inside the apartment, the older boy picked up his father’s loaded handgun in the master bedroom and said he accidentally pulled the trigger. A bullet struck young Xavier Jackson in the face, killing him.

Investigators said the gun was left unsecured where the children had access to it.

The case is being handled by Felony Asst. Stacy McEndree of the District Attorney’s Vertical Team 6 which prosecutes cases in General Sessions Division 15 and in Criminal Court Division 10.