GoFundMe Created For Memorial Expenses Of 6-Year-Old Fatally Shot July 4th

TEMPLE HILLS, MD — A GoFundMe has been organized to help the family of a 6-year-old boy fatally shot on the Fourth of July with funeral costs and related expenses.

Prince George's Police were called to the 4500 block of Akron Street around 7:50 p.m. on Independence Day. They found Ahsan Julian Payton of Washington, D.C., with a gunshot wound. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition and died late Saturday night, police reported. A man was injured in the shooting but those injuries weren't considered life-threatening. A woman was treated on the scene for a graze wound, police said. The preliminary investigation revealed the shooting took place during a holiday gathering in the neighborhood.

Yukia Wilson organized the GoFundMe and described Ahsan as a "bright and loving child with his whole life ahead of him."

"His family is devastated by this unimaginable loss and is in need of support during this difficult time. We are raising funds to help Ahsan's family cover the unexpected expenses that come with such a heartbreaking loss," Wilson wrote. "Ahsan's smile could light up a room and his absence has left a void that can never be filled."

Wilson founded and runs The Farewell Agency, which she calls a concierge company that assists families in planning and organizing funeral arrangements.

"My whole job is to make sure that this family is able to get some kind of rest without having to leave the house and go all of these different places and talk to all these different people. They just don't have the capacity. There's they're not sleeping, they're barely eating. So they don't have the capacity to answer the phone for different vendors," she told WUSA.

A reward of up to $25,000 has been offered for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case. Anyone who attended the party, or anyone who may have information that could assist in this investigation, is asked to contact detectives at 301-516-2512.