As NBC25 continues coverage of the 10-year-anniversary of the killing of Kayla Rolland at Buell Elementary, we take a look at the young boy behind the gun.
Ten years ago this week a 6-year-old boy took a gun from his 19-year-old uncle's home to school. He then shot and killed his 6-year-old classmate Kayla Rolland.
Kayla’s father Ricky Rolland says he knows what he would say to her if he could see her today.
“I love her. I miss her,” he says unable to hold back the tears. “I want to spend time with her.”
Kayla’s family isn’t the only one destroyed on that tragic day.
The young shooter lost his innocence and was ripped away from the family he knew. His mother Tamarla Owens eventually waived her right to custody of him.
She had left her children in the care of their uncle because their father Dedric Owens was in jail, she had just been evicted, and the Welfare-to-Work program in place at the time required she work two low-paying jobs or lose benefits.
Flint attorney Mark Clement represented Mrs. Owens after the shooting. He says she was a victim of poverty and a program that took mothers away from their children.
”They (The Mackinac Center for Public Policy) predicted that with this program there was going to be a tragedy,” says Clement.
“He needed more guidance than he was getting,” says Stephany Edwards. “He really did. I mean his uncle was dealing drugs."
Edwards lived across the street from the boy’s uncle Jamelle James on Juliah Avenue in Mount Morris Township. She says neighbors reported crime and neglect at the shooter’s home. Social workers began to investigate, but didn’t finish before the tragic day.
James served just over two years in prison for Kayla’s death because the gun in his possession killed her.
Genesee County’s Prosecutor at the time Art Busch says the boy underwent therapy at the Whaley Children’s Center. Because of privacy laws the now 16-year-old cannot easily be located. Busch says by all reports he’s received the young shooter never reoffended. Busch hopes it stays that way.
“My advice to him is to stay away from guns, get an education, and never forget what happened,” says Busch.
There are many around in this community who will work to make sure everyone remembers.
