Crime

Boy, 8, wounded in Houston County drive-by shooting Friday night dies in hospital

An 8-year-old Houston County boy who was shot in the head and critically wounded in an apparent drive-by shooting late Friday died early Monday at an Atlanta children’s hospital, Houston County sheriff’s officials said.

The victim, Jermarrion Cherry, was reportedly inside a car with some other children and an adult who were about to leave a home in the 200 block of Virginia Dare Drive when the shooting happened, officials said in a statement.

Cherry was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m. Monday at Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital, the statement said.

The shooting happened shortly after 9 p.m. Friday in a neighborhood between Russell Parkway and Booth Road about half a mile west of the Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base.

The statement from sheriff’s investigators said a car rode past the automobile that Cherry was in and “multiple shots were fired” from the passing car. The shots were toward a home and the automobile that Cherry was inside of along with “several small children.” An adult with the children had “just stepped away” from their car and “was several feet away” when the shots were fired.

No one else was thought to have been wounded.

Investigators on Monday were said to be interviewing potential witnesses and searching for the culprit.

Joe Kovac Jr.
The Telegraph
Joe Kovac Jr. writes about local news and features for The Telegraph, with an eye for human-interest stories. Joe is a Warner Robins native and graduate of Warner Robins High. He joined the Telegraph in 1991 after graduating from the University of Georgia. As a Pulliam Fellowship recipient in 1991, Joe worked for the Indianapolis News. His stories have appeared in the Washington Post, the Seattle Times and Atlanta Magazine. He has been a Livingston Award finalist and won numerous Georgia Press Association and Georgia Associated Press awards.
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