In the early hours of a Saturday morning in DeKalb County, Georgia, a life was tragically cut short. On January 30, 2016, 17-year-old Rodderick Holder was at an apartment complex on Meadowglen Village Lane with a group of other teenagers. It was there that a handgun being handled by the group discharged, striking the young man. The male teenager was rushed to Grady Memorial Hospital, but he ultimately succumbed to his injuries.
Holder, a 10th grader at Lakeside High School who also
worked at UPS, was remembered as a quiet, calm, and loving young man who was a role model to his younger siblings. While his mother expressed doubts that the shooting was accidental, DeKalb County police investigated the incident and determined it to be a tragic accident. According to law enforcement, a 16-year-old male pointed the gun at Holder and pulled the trigger, causing it to fire.
Following the incident, the 16-year-old involved in the shooting reportedly went home and informed his family about what had happened before being brought back to the scene. He was later taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter. As he was a juvenile, his identity was not publicly released. The police investigation also focused on determining the origin of the handgun involved in the fatal shooting.
