By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-01-28 23:28:46 | Updated at 2025-01-30 08:19:11
1 day ago
A Tennessee man shot his girlfriend and killed her baby after they got into a fight over her playing loud music - before turning the gun on himself.
Marquavious Hampton, 24, became angry due to the loud music and got into a physical altercation with his girlfriend at the Chelsea Place Apartments on Sunday.
During the altercation, Hampton opened fire on her one-year-old baby boy, who was seated in a stroller. The shooter was not biologically related to the child.
The mom was hit in the hand by a bullet as she jumped in front of Hampton trying to shield her baby, according to Murfreesboro Police.
The boy, who has been identified locally as baby Jeriko, was found with multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on the scene. His mom was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries.
Hampton fled the scene in a white Dodge Charger. Police used Real Time Crime Center License Plate Reader cameras to get a tag number for the suspect vehicle and issued a Be On The Look for the car.
A camera alerted Williamson County Sheriff’s Department deputies when he entered their jurisdiction, and they pursued his vehicle in the area of Critz Lane and Columbia Avenue.
Hampton ran from deputies and fled on foot into a nearby field - where he was later found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A Tennessee man shot his girlfriend and killed her baby, named Jeriko, (pictured) after they got into a fight over her playing loud music
Marquavious Hampton, 24, (not pictured) became angry due to loud music and got into a physical altercation with his girlfriend at the Chelsea Place Apartments on Sunday
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has been enlisted to investigate Hampton's death.
The Murfreesboro Police Department is continuing to investigate the apartment shooting and the infant's death.
A GoFundMe page has been set up by baby Jeriko's family to cover funeral and medical expenses.
'Baby Jeriko was a light in all our lives—a sweet, playful, and innocent soul taken far too soon,' the fundraiser said.
'He brought endless love and joy to everyone around him. Just last month, he took his first steps and spoke his first words, “mama” and “papa.” His contagious smile, dimples, and adorable curls lit up every room.
The tragedy comes after an adorable toddler from Arkansas died after his mother's evil boyfriend allegedly threw him into a pool repeatedly to teach the child how to swim last June.
Two-year-old Daxton Ray Bull died on June 17 in Arkansas, just days after he was hurled into the pool by Dakota Shawn Hays, 29, according to court records.
Hays and the child's mother, Annastacia Atkins, 24, were arrested on Monday and charged in connection to his death, which has been ruled a homicide.
Deputies responded to Atkin's home on June 14 to reports of an unresponsive child after Hays spent the day swimming with Daxton and two other children, according to legal documents.
While EMTs treated the child, officers interviewed Hays, who told cops that he was teaching Daxton how to swim when he started 'spitting up water.'
Hampton fled the scene and was later found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound
The baby, who has been identified on social media as Baby Jeriko, was found with multiple gunshot wounds and pronounced dead on the scene
Baby Jeriko's family described him as a sweet, playful and innocent soul who brought endless love and joy to everyone around him
Officers then interviewed the two other children, including a six-year-old girl who said Hays repeatedly tossed Daxton into the swimming pool, even though the little boy protested not to do so.
The girl also said that Hays pushed him under to get items at the bottom, according to an affidavit.
While the child was in the pool, Atkins said she was lying down inside the house. Hays soon ran in and told her what was wrong with Daxton, according to the filing.
By the time she stepped outside, Atkins had said her child was shaking and that she attempted to help him by giving Daxton chest compressions because she thought his heart stopped.
She told officers that for most of the day, Hays and her son were swimming alone, the filing said.
An autopsy released on October 14 revealed the extent of Daxton's injuries, with the medical examiner concluding that he died from lack of oxygen to his brain.
The affidavit also stated that the examiner found that the child suffered severe injuries consistent with 'abusive trauma.'
His autopsy further detailed that the toddler showed signs of 'extensive head and facial contusions,' scrapes and cuts on his torso and genital area, all in different stages of healing, and 'blunt force trauma inconsistent with accidental injury.'
Atkins has been charged with permitting abuse of a minor and murder in the first degree. She is being held on a $750,000 bond.
