5 Year-Old Cannon Hinnant Shot Point-Blank; 25 Year-Old Suspect Arrested; American Media IGNORES While International Media Covers

The motive is currently a mystery.

People fear that this may have been more than just a senseless murder.

It could have been racially motivated because Cannon was a young white male

Local WNKY 40 News has more details on the search for a motive:

Investigators are still searching for a motive in the murder of a 5-year-old boy shot to death at point-blank range as he played in the yard of his father’s Wilson, North Carolina home.

Witnesses told police Cannon Hinnant was riding a bike outside his father’s home when a neighbor walked up to him and shot him in the head.

“They were just playing in the yard like any other day,” Austin Hinnant said Thursday of Cannon and his 8- and 7-year-old sisters.

Hinnant said he heard a gunshot as his fiancée walked into the house at about 5:30 p.m.

“The first thing that went through my mind was maybe he just fell off his bike,” he said. “The closer I got to him, the more I realized it was something far more serious.”

Darrius Sessoms, 25, was charged with first-degree murder in Cannon’s death and was arrested Monday in Goldsboro.

The Independent in the United Kingdom reported the story:

A North Carolina man has been charged with the murder of a five-year-old boy after shooting him at point-blank range Sunday.

Darius Sessoms, 25, was arrested by the Wilson Police Department Monday after allegedly walking up to Cannon Hinnant, 5, and shooting him in the head.

The boy was standing outside his father's house when Mr Sessoms allegedly shot him.

According to local news broadcaster WRAL, Cannon's seven and eight-year-old sisters saw his murder.

Cannon had just learned how to write his name and would have begun Kindergarten this year.

His mother told the Wilson Times that he was "just a loving kid" that had "the biggest heart."

"It's devastating. No one should ever have to bury their child. No mother should have to go through this," she said.

Mr Sessoms lives next door to Cannon's family and had previously eaten dinner with them, according to neighbours.

"[Mr Sessoms and I] used to play together and I never thought he'd kill someone," Rachel Pipkin, one of Cannon's mother's cousins, told CBS News. "A mother now has to lay her son to rest at 5-years-old which she should never have to do. He'll never be forgotten."

According to a GoFundMe set up for the family, Mr Sessoms shot Cannon for riding his bike into Mr Sessoms' yard. Police have not released information regarding a motive at this time.

Fortunately, the 25 year-old-suspect is in custody.

But will the media cover this story like it deserves?

Will people know Cannon's name?

Conservatives on social media have noted that mainstream media in the U.S. (with the exception of Fox News) have not covered the case.

It wasn't until Friday morning when the 25 year-old suspect was arrest that CNN finally reported on the story.

According to CNN:

Police have charged a 25-year-old man with first-degree murder after they say he shot and killed a 5-year-old boy last week in Wilson, North Carolina.

Austin Hinnant told CNN affiliate WRAL he was inside the home when his son, Cannon, was playing outside and was shot.

Hinnant says he ran outside and scooped up the injured child and held him in his arms.
"I screamed 'somebody help me, please help me save my son,'" he said.

Hinnant told the affiliate he looked up and saw his neighbor, Darius Sessoms, in the yard next door with a gun in hand, pacing and frantic.

"I was looking at him as I was picking up Cannon, and I was so full of rage, but I could not leave my son's side," he said. "I just wanted to be with my son."

We hope more in the media continue to cover this tragic story.

May Cannon rest in peace... and may his family find peace.

Our prayers go out to the Hinnant family during this terrible time.