By Jose Serrano (staff@latinospost.com) | First Posted: Oct 08, 2015 11:17 AM EDT
Tags 8 year old shot, MaKayla Dyer, Tennesee boy charged, 11 year old Tennessee boy, Tennessee girl shot, Puppies

Funeral services are being held Wednesday night for 8-year-old MaKayla Dyer, the young Tennessee girl fatally shot by her 11-year-old neighbor after refusing to let him see her puppy.

The unnamed boy has officially been charged with first-degree murder and currently being held in a detention center, according to local ABC affiliate WATE-TV.

Police say MaKayla was playing outside late Saturday afternoon when the boy asked to see one of her puppies. MaKayla said "no," prompting the boy to retaliate with his father's 12-gauge shotgun. The young girl's mother found her lying on the ground and rushed her to nearby Morristown-Hamblen hospital where she died from the shot to her chest.

"She was a precious little girl, she was a mommy's girl, no matter how bad of a mood you were in she could always make you smile," Latasha Dyer, MaKayla's mother told WATE-TV.

Dyer said the boy ridiculed MaKayla from the day her family moved to White Pine; a small town located about 40 miles northeast of Knoxville. She had to go to White Pine Elementary principal after the boy would make fun of MaKayla and caller her names.

"I want her back in my arms, this is not fair, hold and kiss you're babies every night because you're never promised the next day with them," said Latasha Dyer. "I hope the little boy learned his lesson because he took my baby's life and I can't get her back."

A study conducted by gun control advocacy group Everytown found that, between December 2012 and December 2013, more than two children per week were killed in unintentional shootings. Seventy percent of these shooting could have been prevented had the firearm been unloaded or securely locked.

Atop MaKayla's porch sits a memorial adorned with balloons, cards, stuffed toys, candles, and a wreath placed by friends and neighbors. Neighbor Chasity Arwood, who takes care of the puppies while the family is away, says the pups run to the porch and snuggle aside the mementos left in MaKayla's memory.

"My heart hurts because a little girl lost her life too young," Arwood said. "And the little boy has to go through what he's going through."

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