9-month-old baby boy shot and killed identified
By Corin Hoggard and Alyssa Flores
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MERCED, California (KFSN) — The people who live near Q and 12th Street in Merced can’t make sense of what unfolded there around midday Wednesday.
A woman and her friend were walking down the street, pushing the woman’s baby boy in a stroller — 9-month-old Darius King Grigsby.
At some point, a vehicle pulled up and someone fired toward the three of them. At least one of the bullets hit and killed baby Darius. The shooter took off.
A neighbor in the area showed Action News the home surveillance video they turned over to police.
You can hear the gunshots then see the mother realize her baby had been hit.
Video then shows the child’s mother screaming as she scoops him out of the stroller and cries for help, yelling “they killed my baby.”
Someone there called 911. Baby Darius was declared dead at the scene. Detectives don’t believe he was the intended target.
“We don’t know what the motive is,” Perez said. “At this point, it’s possible that maybe one of the parents was a possible target and the child was just tragically caught in the crossfire.”
Baby Darius’ Aunt Andrea Bolanos shared a statement with Action News, saying in part, “Always a cheerful baby. Always smiling and laughing. He didn’t deserve to go like this, especially this soon. He was just starting to enjoy food and being mobile.”
Neighbors looked on as Merced PD spent hours investigating and gathering evidence, including the stroller that the baby was laying in when he was shot.
A GoFundMe has been started to help pay for funeral expenses.
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