Cannon Hinnant's mother seeks death penalty for Darius Sessoms: 'I'm ready to flip this country upside down'
WILSON, NORTH CAROLINA: Cannon Hinnant's mother has vowed to get justice for her five-year-old son who was shot to death in North Carolina on August 9.
Cannon's mother, Bonny Waddell, has said that she will be seeking the death penalty against the suspect who allegedly shot Cannon at point-blank range while he rode his bicycle on Sunday, August 9, night. While speaking about her son, Waddell shared, "My baby didn't deserve this."
"He had the biggest smile, the biggest eyes. We lost a big piece of our family. We all. He changed all of our lives. He touched everybody he knew," she shared. Cannon's two sisters — aged seven and eight — had been playing with him when their neighbor Darius Sessoms shot the child in front of his siblings. Waddell said, "This man took my girls when he took my baby. They know he’s in a better place." Sessoms is facing a first-degree murder charge for killing Cannon and is being held without bond. Waddell said, "I want death penalty and I’m gonna seek it," according to a WRAL-TV report.
Waddell had also taken to Facebook to share, "This man will answer to me. That man will see me and my son through my face! This sorry excuse as a human being will rot in hell." She had also asked people to pray for her daughters and wrote, "They just lost a puzzle piece, their best friend, a piece of their heart."
"I will burn this country down if that's what it'll take to see [the alleged shooter] burn in hell. I'm ready to flip this country upside down," Waddell continued. She had also shared, "He was just a loving kid. He had the biggest heart. It's devastating. No one should ever have to bury their child. No mother should have to go through this." A cousin of Cannon's mother, Rachel Pipkin said, "We used to play together and I never thought he’d kill someone. 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."
Sessoms reportedly was a neighbor of Cannon's family and had a good relationship with them. Even other residents in the area claimed that the suspect had dinner with the young boy’s father Austin Hinnant on Friday, August 7, and also visited their house earlier on Sunday.
A witness, Doris Lybrand, had spoken to WRAL that Sessoms had run up to the child and put the gun near his head before pulling the trigger. After shooting the child, Sessoms had run back to his house which neighbors the home of Cannon's father, Austin Hinnant. Lybrand shared, "My first reaction was he's playing with the kids. For a second, I thought, 'That couldn't happen.' People don't run across the street and kill kids."
Cannon's grandmother, Gwen Hinnant said that with the money from their GoFundMe page which has raised around $748,965 as of Monday, August 17, the family is planning to remember Cannon in the best way they know. Gwen shared, "We've discussed a memorial park for Cannon where kids go and ride their bikes because he liked that so much."