In the days leading up to Christmas in Portsmouth, Virginia, the life of 12-year-old Kemon Dermarie Battle was tragically cut short. On December 22, 2018, the young male was playing outside on Lexington Drive when he was shot in the head. Rushed to the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, Kemon underwent surgery but succumbed to his injuries the following day, leaving a community to grapple with the senseless loss of a child to gun violence.
The investigation into Kemon's death
revealed a heartbreaking story of youthful curiosity and tragic accident. Kemon and his 14-year-old friend had discovered a gun on a service road and brought it back to the older boy's home. According to court testimony, it was while Kemon was playing with the firearm that it accidentally discharged, the bullet striking him in the right cheek. The incident sent shockwaves through the neighborhood, a community already struggling with the persistent issue of gun violence. The tragedy was further amplified for Kemon's family, as his cousin, De'Andre Barnes, was being sworn in as the youngest member of the Portsmouth School Board around the time of the shooting. Barnes would later speak out about the need for more resources and programs to provide safer environments for the city's youth.
In the wake of the shooting, the 14-year-old friend was taken into custody by Portsmouth police. Initially, he faced a charge of voluntary manslaughter. However, as the details of the incident came to light, the charge was later amended to involuntary manslaughter. The court proceedings painted a grim picture of the moments leading up to the fatal shot, revealing that the 14-year-old had been attempting to take the gun away from Kemon, fearing he would get into trouble with his mother, when it went off.
In April 2019, a juvenile court judge found the 14-year-old responsible for involuntary manslaughter. The judge described the case as 'horrible,' acknowledging the community's profound grief and search for answers that the court could not fully provide. The teenager faced a maximum sentence of being committed to the state Department of Juvenile Justice until he turned 21. Kemon's father, Dionte Artis, expressed the deep pain and depression he experienced following the loss of his first-born son. He spoke of the difficulty of trying to remain strong for his other children, including Kemon's younger brother, who was only a year apart from him in age. The family, including Kemon's cousin who knew the 14-year-old through a youth program where both boys were participants, was left to navigate a future without Kemon, a future that should have been filled with holiday traditions like decorating Christmas cookies, a plan that was tragically interrupted on the day he was killed.
