Fundraiser Started For Family Of Essex County Boy Shot By Brother

Essex County, NJ – Community members have launched an online fundraiser to benefit the family of a four-year-old boy who was accidentally shot by his six-year-old brother this weekend.

The fundraiser is being held in the wake of Saturday’s tragic incident, which resulted in the victim's mother, Itiyanah Spruill, 22, being charged with endangering the welfare of a child and a weapons violation.

• See related article: Mother Charged After N.J. Boy, 6, Shoots, Kills 4-Year-Old Brother

According to the campaign organizer, the victim’s aunt, Mika Shirele Richardson of Roselle Park, the funds are being raised in the memory of four-year-old baby Christopher and will help with burial expenses.

“Thank you for your prayers,” Richardson wrote.

See the online campaign here.

According to authorities, the incident happened shortly before 11 a.m., when East Orange police officers were dispatched to a residence at the 100 block of Norman Street.

Arriving officers discovered that a 4-year-old male had been shot. The child was rushed to University Hospital in Newark, and then pronounced dead at 4:26 p.m., according to Chief Assistant Prosecutor Thomas S. Fennelly of the Prosecutor's Homicide Unit.

The investigation is being conducted by the Essex County Prosecutor's Major Crimes Task Force, which includes detectives from the East Orange Police Department.

At this point, the shooting appears to be accidental, according to Fennelly.

Sign up for Patch NJ email newsletters here.