Child killed in Marion shooting

Suspect in custody after fatal incident

By JOHN RECH

news@theeveningtimes.com

“Splatter-ball” gunplay exploded into tragedy in Marion on Sunday evening, ending with the tragic death of a child.

Marion police responded to emergency calls about a shooting in the heart of the neighborhood known as “The Dollhouses” at Sherwood Cove and Hickory Street to find an eight-year-old gunshot victim wounded in the head. An ambulance transported the little girl to LeBonheur Children’s Hospital in Memphis, where the victim was later pronounced deceased.

Officers at the scene spoke with several witnesses in the area and received information of a possible suspect. The suspect was identified as Shanterria Montgomery, a 24-year-old Black female. Police received reports that the incident was caused after individuals showed up in the area with “splatter-ball” guns, which escalated with a firearm being drawn and shots being fired. Police arrested Montgomery and charged her with Murder 1st Degree, Terroristic Act/shoots at or projects an object that causes property damage and Tampering with Physical Evidence. She appeared in Crittenden County District Court on Monday, April 11th. A $350,000 bond was set in Montgomery’s case. She is currently in custody at the

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MONTGOMERY CHILD

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Crittenden County Detention Center.

In the wake of the shooting, West Memphis Police and West Memphis School District counselors responded with support for Maddux Elementary School third graders on Monday, where the victim and her siblings attended class. The school librarian expressed appreciation for the grief counseling on Facebook, Monday night.

“They cried, they wept, they wrote notes and drew pictures to express the pain they were going through,” stated the post. “Your kind words, hugs and compassion meant more than you know.”

The so-called “splatter- ball” guns, usually styled “SplatRball,” are battery-powered toy guns that fire small liquid-filled gel spheres called “splats” than can fire multiple rounds and can be modified to resemble real firearms.

According to Marion Police Det. Dustin Burns, “The investigation is still active and ongoing.”