SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — An accidental shooting claimed the life of a Southaven teenager.
According to family, 17-year-old Marcus Reeves Jr. fought for his life.
The family is hoping to send a clear message to young people to put the guns down.
WREG spoke to Marcus Reeves Sr. before the vigil, he says he doesn’t want to see any other young person’s life cut short before it even starts.
“You can’t bring back a life. Whether you are playing or not, once that bullet comes out of the chamber that’s it,” the father said.
Reeves Sr. says he’ll never forget the Sunday that changed his life forever.
“I said ‘Come on and see your little sister. We are home from the hospital.’ He said ‘Dad, let me drop my friend off and I’ll be home,” Reeves Sr. said.
The father says his son was excited about the arrival of his little sister. That’s why the next call he got from his sister caught him off guard.
“She said, ‘He’s at Baptist Hospital. He’s been shot in the head.’ I said ‘Really?'” he said.
As Reeves Sr. began to learn more about the gun play, he found himself more perplexed by the scenario.
“The guy is still out, and I have lost my baby. I want justice,” he said. “Why is a person still out and my baby is gone?”
Horn Lake Police says Reeves Jr. was with a group of friends at a home on Ridgewood Cove.
They were on the porch and one teenager was playing with a gun when it went off.
“They told me one of his friends shot him accidentally,” the father said.
Reeves Junior was shot in the face. The family says they were told the friend who fired the shot panicked and ran away, leaving their loved on the ground.
Thankfully someone inside of the Ridgewood Cove home did call for help.
“You do not play with guns,” Reeves Sr. said.
Now he’s just hopeful that no other family will have to feel the pain he’s enduring.
Note: The story has been updated to correct Marcus Reeves Junior’s cause of death.