In a heart-wrenching turn of events on September 6, 2017, in Columbia, South Carolina, a young life was tragically cut short. Two-year-old Kyree Myers, a male child, discovered a loaded handgun within his home and accidentally discharged the weapon, inflicting a fatal gunshot wound to his head. His mother, Capresha Maxwell, was present at the time of the incident and immediately alerted emergency services.
Despite rapid response and medical intervention, the young boy succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The tragedy was compounded by the profound grief of Kyree's father, 38-year-old Keon Myers. Overwhelmed by the accidental death of his son, Keon Myers took his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head shortly after the initial incident. When Columbia Police Department officers arrived at the scene, they found the distraught father armed and threatening self-harm. Despite their attempts to de-escalate the situation, they were unable to prevent the second tragedy.
The Richland County Coroner's Office conducted autopsies and confirmed that Kyree Myers died from a single gunshot wound to the head and that his death was accidental. Keon Myers's death was ruled a suicide. The Columbia Police Department, in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths, primarily focusing on the origin and ownership of the firearm. The investigation concluded that the incident was a tragic accident followed by a suicide, and consequently, no arrests were made or charges filed in connection with the case. The devastating event left a mother to mourn the instantaneous loss of her young son and her fiancé.
