Cannon Hinnant case: Suspect's girlfriend charged with helping shooter escape
09/24/2020 1:14 pm PDT
via WRAL:
WILSON, N.C. (WRAL) -- A second person has been arrested and charged in the shooting death of a Wilson 5-year-old in August.
Wilson Police said Aolani Takemi Marie Pettit, 21, was charged with felony accessory after the fact Tuesday.
In a court appearance on Wednesday morning, prosecutors said Pettit knew her boyfriend Darrius Sessoms had shot Cannon Hinnant and that she helped him leave town, including providing him transportation.
Family members said Cannon Hinnant was playing outside his father's house when he was shot in the head on Aug. 9. The boy's two sisters, ages 8 and 7, saw their brother get shot, according to their mother. Hinnant died at Wilson Medical Center.
About 24 hours after Hinnant was shot, Darius Sessoms, 25, was apprehended in a Goldsboro residence by U.S. Marshals, Goldsboro Police and Wayne County Sheriff's deputies. He was charged with first-degree murder and held without bond.
Sessoms lives next door to Hinnant's father, and a neighbor said that the two men had dinner together Saturday night and that Sessoms was at his neighbor's home earlier Sunday. A witness said Sessoms ran up to the boy, put the gun near his head and fired before running back to his own house.
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