Orlando family grieves 4-year-old boy fatally shot; teen relative charged
ORLANDO, Fla. —
A 4-year-old boy was fatally shot at the Stella West Apartments in Orlando last month, and his family is mourning the loss as an 18-year-old relative faces manslaughter charges.
Kaiden Pearson, the youngest of Jeannette Young’s six great-grandchildren, loved Spider-Man and Thomas the Train.
“What are you going to miss most about Kaiden? Them hugs and them kisses, and all I can hear is the pitter-patter of feet going from this room to that room,” Young said. “And, actually, I have his Thomas the Train engine.”
Young described her grief, saying, “It was like my child. It was as though I had. It was like somebody had took my child. That’s my baby. And that’s all I could say is my baby’s gone.”
Eighteen-year-old Brandon McCloud is in jail, charged with manslaughter for the July 17 shooting at the Stella West Apartments on Silver Star Road in Orange County. Investigators said McCloud and his girlfriend had just returned to the apartment when Kaiden was shot in the chest.
Assistant State Attorney Sean Wiggins said, “Within minutes of this child being shot, this defendant’s thought process did not go to rendering aid or trying to save the child’s life but trying to alter and disrupt the scene.”
Young expressed disbelief at the lack of emotion shown after the incident.
“Nobody was crying, nobody was mourning, or even upset, didn’t seem to be upset about it all,” she said.
Prosecutors presented evidence in court, including photos of a bullet casing found in a trash can. Investigators testified that McCloud handed his cellphone to someone else and encouraged his girlfriend to leave the scene. They also said McCloud’s internet search history showed he looked up “how to get gunpowder off you” before first responders arrived.
The weapon used in the shooting was not recovered. Young urged others to take precautions with firearms.
“Just tell the truth. Just stop trying to hide it. It’s going to come out,” she said. “I want them to know if they have to have a gun, put it in a safe place. Lock it up.”
Kaiden would have turned five on Aug. 15. His great-grandmother said she plans to attend every day of McCloud’s trial.
A judge ruled that McCloud’s actions after the shooting justify keeping him in jail without bond until his trial.