Boy dies days after getting shot in head

Three children were in the room when the gun went off, striking the 7-year-old boy in the head. The youngest was just 5, the oldest 11.

Days after the shooting Thursday morning, Brayson Plummer was pronounced dead. Now, police and those who knew the child are questioning how this could happen and why.

Casey Liening a spokeswoman for the Fort Lauderdale Police Department, said no adults were in the room when Brayson was struck by the bullet. It still isn’t clear if Brayson pulled the trigger or if one of the other children did.

Much will need to be determined in the coming days, such as whose gun got into the hand of a child or the children and whether there would be any charge filed against the gun’s owner. For now, police cannot say much.

The urgency and terror of the aftermath of shooting was evident, as a frantic woman pleaded into the phone for help Thursday morning.

“Come now,” a woman begged the 911 dispatcher, according to a recording of the phone call released Monday.

“My nephew got shot in the head,” she cried. “Oh, I can’t breathe.”

The dispatcher tried to calm the woman, telling her she needed to be calm to describe who shot the child.

The woman says she was sleeping and the child was with other children.

When police arrived at the home on the 1500 block of NW Second Avenue Thursday, it was far from the first time they been called there.

They’d been called 82 times since January 2019, records show.

Most of the calls to police were noise complaints, although other calls were for reports of possible child and elderly abuse; drugs; an overdose; injuries; domestic disputes and fights; a stolen car; stalking and harassment and three reports of a gun going off: March 26, May 7, and Thursday, records show.

Neighbors told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that they had encouraged child welfare workers to investigate the home because they worried something tragic would happen to the child. They say they often saw him outside late at night.

“It’s just so terrible,” said neighbor Cal Miller, his voice strained with emotion. “I feel like I tried to help. Children cannot protect themselves. . … It’s just so sad.”

Neighbor Espinal also

Phyllis “PJ” cried at the news that her little neighbor was dead.

“It’s so sad,” she said. “It’s just what I was afraid of. Something bad like that happening to him.”

Espinal said she was friendly with the child, often tossing back an errant ball that went across the street. She said Brayson politely ask if he could pet her dog.

“He was so cute,” Espinal said. “It’s just terrible. He’s just a little guy. Such a short life, but such a happy-golucky kid.”