Man who killed 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant indicted for murder

The man accused of murdering 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant while he was riding his bicycle not far from his front door in 2020 has been indicted on murder charges.

On December 22, a grand jury indicted 25-year-old Darius Sessoms on the charge of first-degree murder, according to ABC 11.

Sessoms' is scheduled to appear in court next on Jan. 24.

On August 9, 2020, Sessoms walked up to where Hinnant was playing outside his father's home in Wilson, North Carolina and shot him in the head, according to WRAL.

Austin Hinnant said he heard a gunshot as his fiancée walked into the house at around 5:30 pm. Cannon's mother said the boy's two sisters, ages 8 and 7, saw their brother fatally shot.

"The first thing that went through my mind was maybe he just fell off his bike," the farther said. "The closer I got to him, the more I realized it was something far more serious."

"[You] can't imagine what it's like to hold your son in your arms with a gunshot wound to the head, and his blood is running down your arms," he said.

Hinnant was taken to Wilson Medical Center, where he later died.

Hinnant said the family had lived next door to Sessoms and his parents for eight years leading up to the shooting, even inviting Sessoms over for dinner on Sunday, and never had any confrontations.

"There wasn't anything between me and him, any bad blood whatsoever, for him to have a reason to do this," he said.

Another person was been charged in September in connection to the shooting. 21-year-old Aolani Takemi Marie Pettit was charged with felony accessory after the fact, according to ABC 11.