WYOMING, Mich. — A 17-year-old was officially charged in the shooting death of a Godwin Heights High School student who was heading into his senior year. The suspected shooter claims it was all an accident.
Seventeen-year-old Ta’Carhri Richardson died at Metro Hospital just after 5 a.m Sunday.
On Tuesday, Marquis Dushawn Kilgore was not charged with murder. Instead the teen was arraigned on one count of involuntary manslaughter.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by FOX 17 News, the suspect ” was in possession of a pistol which he purchased while seated behind the victim who was in the driver’s seat of the minivan. The victim was then shot through the seat and back while the suspect was handling the gun.”
Kilgore was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearms.
The affidavit also states:
- The suspect was seen with the firearm in the months and week before the shooting.
- The suspect was seated behind the victim who was shot and taken to the hospital where he died.
- The suspect acknowledged under Miranda that the shooting was not intentional and that the gun was in his possession at the time it went off.
- Analysis of the car and victim confirm a single shot from behind the victim and through the seat causing death.
Sunday evening, hundreds of people gathered in the high school parking lot to remember Richardson, also known as "Carhri."
Jordan Walton, a friend of Richardson, said the teen was heading into his senior year.
"Ta'Carhri was my dear friend," Walton said. "We used to always just play basketball, go to get togethers. My mom knew him, my brothers knew him, everybody knew him. He was just such a good person."
Walton said Richardson was part of the junior varsity basketball team. He said Richardson had to leave the sport behind this past year after he took on an after-school job.
"He had good grades. He wasn't in no gangs," Walton said. "-it was not gang related. It was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
While police aren't confirming what led up to the shooting, Walton said it all began with a pair of sunglasses. "Basically, my brother was at a party and some--one of either his friends, or somebody he was with, they shot him over a pair of glasses he was trying to sell."
