In the summer of 2014, in Wichita, Kansas, the life of a bright-eyed, 3-year-old Black / African American boy named Jahmez Hunt was tragically cut short. On the afternoon of July 29th, while inside his home on East Lincoln, a sense of childhood curiosity led to a devastating accident. Jahmez, who was born on December 10, 2010, was a child described as the love of everyone's life, someone who found joy in playing with his ninja turtles alongside his brothers and sisters.
That fateful
Tuesday, while his mother and her boyfriend, Mario T. Benjamin, were asleep in another room, Jahmez and his 7-year-old brother were in the kitchen. Driven by a child's inquisitiveness, Jahmez pushed a chair to the kitchen counter and climbed up. From there, he managed to reach a cabinet high above the refrigerator where a handgun was stored. He accidentally shot himself in the chest just before 5 p.m. He was rushed to Via Christi Hospital St. Francis, but tragically died a short time later while undergoing surgery. His two sisters, ages 6 and 8, were in another room at the time of the shooting.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, police arrested the 30-year-old Benjamin. He was booked into the Sedgwick County Jail on suspicion of criminal possession of a firearm. Investigators determined that Benjamin was a convicted felon and therefore could not legally possess a gun. He had previous convictions for aggravated assault and domestic battery. Authorities stated that Jahmez's mother was unaware that there was a gun in the house. The investigation revealed that one of the children had shown the gun to the others earlier in the day before their curiosity ultimately led to the fatal incident.
