MARION — A 13-year-old has been arrested after a fatal shooting in Marion on Monday.
According to a release from the Marion Police Department, a 13-year-old is in custody following a deadly shooting just before 8 p.m. at the Circle K in the 900 block of East Bradford Street.
Following dispatch to the location, officers located 24-year-old customer Byron Otis Dennis Jr., 24, with a fatal gunshot wound to his chest.
“It’s hard to process – it doesn’t make sense,” Jazmine Dennis said. Dennis Jr.’s sister is finding it hard to talk about her brother.
"If you knew the worth of your life, or the value of your life, you wouldn't take the life of someone else's,” Dennis said.
The loss of Byron is sending shock waves around the community.
“Outgoing and outspoken, if you needed help, he was there,” Byron’s friend for a dozen years, Mariah Smith said.
According to police, the crime is being viewed as a "crime of opportunity."
The 13-year-old suspect was seen in surveillance taking something from Dennis after shooting him.
The Grant County Prosecutor says his office will file a petition, in an effort to try the 13-year-old as an adult.
The office said it will be up to the juvenile court to determine whether the petition will be granted.
“Love on your kids, tell them that they are important, tell them what they can be, what they are,” Jazmine Dennis concluded.
