Video

Family relieved after arrest in boy's death

More News video

• View larger
• E-mail clip
• More video

Related links:

• Arrest made in 9-year-old's death
• 9-year-old shot and killed at church event

Search Video:

NORWOOD, NC. -- The man accused of firing the bullet that killed a 9-year-old boy at a church event is now behind bars.

Investigators say the search continues for three others involved in the shooting.

NewsChannel 36 spoke with the victim’s grandmother, Rose Hall, who says the family is grateful that the man deputies say is responsible for the shooting is now behind bars.

Several questions still remain, such as why the fight started that weekend and why were there guns at a church function?

“She’s still saying constantly, 'I miss my baby. I miss my baby,'” said Hall, referring to her daughter, the mother of 9-year-old Jamorie who was killed.

Rose says the pain is still overwhelming for the child’s mother.

“She don’t even want to go back to the trailer where she was living because she says there are so many memories in there of her baby,” Hall said. 

Olandus Blakeney

But with the alleged shooter, 21-year-old Olandus Blakeney, behind bars the healing process is moving forward.

Stanly County Sheriff Rick Burris says Blakeney told detectives he threw the gun over a bridge into the Rocky River. A diver recovered the gun and a state lab confirmed it is the murder weapon.

“We feel confident we’ve got a pretty good case on him being the shooter, which was the cause of the 90-year-old’s death,” said Burris.

Detectives still can’t say why Blakeney brought a gun to a church event on his 21st birthday, or what started the argument that led to the shooting.

For Hall’s family, they want Jamorie’s death to carry a message.

“I just wish from now on that other people learn from his mistake, not to ever do that again because a life is just so precious,” said Hall.

Blakeney is charged with first-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill another person by the name of Antonio Owens.

The sheriff said Owens was Blakeney’s intended target, not the 9-year-old child.

Detectives are still looking for three more suspects involved in the fight and the shooting. They expect to make those arrests in the coming days.