Dedrick Owens

Parties and identifiers

• Perpetrator: Dedrick Owens (born in 1993), a 6-year-old first grader.
• Victim: Kayla Rolland, a 6-year-old first grader (May 12, 1993 - February 29, 2000).
• Other adults referenced:
  • Jamelle James, who kept the .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol.
  • Dedrick Owens’s uncle, described as the person whose home contained the handgun.
  • Veronica McQueen, Kayla Rolland’s mother (35-year-old).
  • Michael McQueen, Veronica McQueen’s husband.
  • Tamarla Owens, the mother of the shooter.
  • Mark Clement, attorney for Tamarla Owens (referenced in connection with a request for comment).
  • J. Dallas Winegarden, Veronica McQueen’s attorney.
  • Arthur Busch, former Genesee County Prosecutor (handled the case).
  • Ira Rutherford, superintendent of the school district when Kayla was shot.
  • Robert Pickerell, Genesee County Sheriff.
  • Eric King, Mount Morris Township Police Chief.
  • Stephanie Motschenbacher, Hurley Medical Center spokeswoman.

Timeline

• May 12, 1993 — Kayla Rolland was born.
• February 29, 2000 — Dedrick Owens shot classmate Kayla Rolland at Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan; Rolland died at Hurley Medical Center in cardiac arrest.
• 2002 — Theo J. Buell Elementary School closed due to declining enrollment.
• 2003 — Veronica McQueen lost custody of her two surviving children.
• 2004 — Michael McQueen was sentenced to three years of probation; Veronica McQueen filed for divorce in November; Veronica McQueen appealed after a federal judge dismissed her lawsuit.
• January 2009 — Buell Elementary School was demolished.
• February 18, 2005 — Jamelle James was discharged from probation, according to court filings.

Background

Dedrick Owens was a 6-year-old first grader. Due to Owens' age and lack of ability to form intent, Owens was never charged for the shooting. The shooting was described as the “youngest” school shooting, and Kayla Rolland was believed to be the youngest school shooting victim in U.S. history.

Kayla was shot once. Police said the shooter, who had never been named or prosecuted because of his age, found the gun in the house where he was staying and simply wanted to scare Kayla. The victim was described as white and the shooter was described as black, with community efforts made despite attempts by some groups to turn the shooting into a racial incident.

Theo J. Buell Elementary School belonged to the Beecher Community School District. The school closed in 2002 due to declining enrollment and students were moved to another school in the district. The school was demolished in January 2009.

The offence

On February 29, 2000, Dedrick Owens found a .32-caliber handgun in his uncle’s home and brought the firearm to Theo J. Buell Elementary School in Mount Morris Township, Michigan. During a class changing period, in the presence of a teacher and 22 students, Owens shot classmate Kayla Rolland.

Owens fired only one shot. The bullet entered Rolland’s right arm before travelling into her vital organs. At 10:59 a.m. EST, Rolland was pronounced dead at Hurley Medical Center while in cardiac arrest. Other descriptions within the material place her death around 10:29 a.m.

After the shooting, Owens threw the handgun into a wastebasket and fled to a nearby restroom. He was found there by a teacher and was taken into police custody soon after.

Investigation and immediate response

After the shooting, the principal made an announcement over the public-address system ordering teachers to lock all classroom doors. The children were evacuated and the parents were notified. Police closed off nearby streets and called for crowd control when distraught parents rushed to pick up their children.

Arrest, custody and placement

Owens, who did not attempt to run away, was taken to the principal’s office, where he was questioned, and later to a police station. He was held in custody until the Genesee County Family Independent Agency could determine his placement.

Owens was held in custody until placement determinations were made for him and his siblings. He and his two younger siblings were placed with an aunt. Later, it was stated that the state would take custody of him, his brother and a five-year-old sister, and that the shooter would turn 12 in spring while his brother would turn 14.

Related adult charges and outcomes

Jamelle James, who kept the .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol, was charged and later pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter. He spent 2.5 years in prison before being released and spending a period of time on probation. Court filings stated he was discharged from probation on February 18. The material also describes the period as 2 years and 5 months in prison before eventual release and probation.

It was also stated that Dedrick Owens’s uncle and two other men were charged, with the other adults involved being in and out of court systems in the years to follow.

Other legal proceedings involving family members

Custody and molestation finding involving Veronica McQueen’s teenage daughter

Kayla Rolland’s mother, Veronica McQueen, lost custody of her two surviving children in 2003. A judge found she failed to protect her teenage daughter from being molested by her husband, Michael McQueen, and Michael McQueen was sentenced to three years of probation in 2004. Veronica McQueen filed for divorce in November and then saw her children regularly.

Lawsuit by Veronica McQueen against Beecher Community School District

Veronica McQueen sued Beecher Community School District, claiming officials knew the boy was a threat and that at least one teacher knew he brought a gun to school. A federal judge dismissed the lawsuit in the previous year relative to the February 28, 2005 report, and McQueen appealed. It was also stated that McQueen’s attorney said she would spend part of that week at the child’s grave.

Other details

School and community aftermath

Buell Elementary School closed in 2002 and was demolished in January 2009. Former Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch said community members came together despite attempts by some groups to turn the shooting into a racial incident. The material stated that someone donated new playground equipment to Buell and that the township received government grants for policing and gun control efforts in the years after Kayla’s death, and that arrests for weapons violations rose 31 percent in the county the year after the shooting.

Busch said delinquency and neglect cases still strained the system and that the “ingredients that created this scenario still exist: child poverty, drugs, all that misery that comes with poverty. It may even be worse.” He added, “Many people here feel helpless to deal with it.”

Statements and quotes (verbatim)

• Mount Morris Township Police Chief Eric King said: “It was not immediately clear if the shooting was accidental or intentional, he said.”
• Hurley Medical Center spokeswoman Stephanie Motschenbacher said: “The girl died about 10:30 a.m., said Hurley Medical Center spokeswoman Stephanie Motschenbacher.”
• Third-grader Corey Sutton, 9, said: “I thought it was a desk or something falling,”
• Third-grader Corey Sutton, 9, said: “The principal came over the PA system and told teachers to shut their doors and lock them. I was scared. My heart was pounding.”
• Genesee County Sheriff Robert Pickerell said: “He was basically living in hell.”
• Ira Rutherford said: “He didn't even really know what he had done.”
• Dee-Ann Durbin wrote quoting Busch: “The ingredients that created this scenario still exist: child poverty, drugs, all that misery that comes with poverty. It may even be worse,” Busch said.
• Dee-Ann Durbin wrote quoting Busch: “Many people here feel helpless to deal with it.”
• Kayla’s mother’s attorney J. Dallas Winegarden said: “She is enduring a natural mother's worst nightmare,”
• Kayla’s mother’s attorney J. Dallas Winegarden said: “She hopes something good has come out of this as far as school safety and gun safety are concerned.”
• A neighbor said: “It took a killing to get these people out of here.”
• Boaz’s mother was quoted: “cried out for help, and nobody helped him.”
• Boaz’s grandmother was quoted: “Do you want me to take my gap [sic] out and shoot you?”
• The boy’s father was quoted asking his son: “Why do you fight?”
• The boy was quoted replying: “I hate them.”

People’s accounts within the material

The material included an account that a seven-year-old, Corey Sutton, heard a bang and described the principal’s PA announcement. Another account referenced Chris Boaz, a seven-year-old, as witnessing the scene during changing classrooms and provided details that the boy pulled out his pistol, that Kayla had her back to him and asked “So?” after he called out “I don't like you,” and that the shooter fired a single bullet that entered Kayla’s right arm and travelled through her vital organs. Chris Boaz’s account included that he saw blood on both sides of Kayla’s stomach, that Kayla grabbed her stomach then her neck while gasping for air, and that the shooter ran to the bathroom to hide and tossed the gun into the trash.

The material also stated that one kid reported a knife to a teacher and it was taken away, while Owens held on to the gun. It stated that Owens had attacked Kayla before and, on the day prior to the killing, tried to kiss her and was rebuffed. It also stated that some weeks before the killing, Owens had stabbed a girl with a pencil, and that he had started fights and punched someone because they would not give him a pickle.

The material stated that Tamarla, described as a drug addict, admitted she exposed her children to marijuana regularly. It stated that the boy’s father had been in jail for violating parole after serving time for possession of cocaine “with intent to deliver.” It also stated that after the shooting, Owens and his brother and five-year-old sister were expected to be taken into custody, and that the two boys had been living with their mother Tamarla until she was evicted, after which they moved into a crack house with their uncle and a 19-year-old man who left the murder weapon loaded under some blankets.

School closure and demolition

The material stated that Buell closed in 2002 because of declining enrollment and that the building was demolished in January 2009. It also described the school as sitting vacant with windows dark and a silent schoolyard under snow five years after the shooting.