California mother says 10-year-old fatally shot her son, also 10, after losing bike race

A 10-year-old California boy who was shot over the weekend died because the suspect, also 10, angrily opened fire after losing a bicycle race, the victim’s mother said Tuesday.

The suspect was being a “sore loser” after the informal race late Saturday afternoon in Foothill Farms, a community about 16 miles northeast of Sacramento, and consequently shot and killed Keith “KJ” Frierson, mother Brittani Frierson said.

She said she was basing her account on what she was told by a neighbor’s child, who was among the kids riding their bikes prior to the shooting.

Frierson gave KJ permission to ride his bicycle — which he had “begged” for for Christmas — before the attack, she said. Less than 15 minutes later, she recalled, she ran outside after neighbors began banging on her door and shouting that something had happened to her son.

“I screamed for hours after I saw my child on that ground because I could just see that he had no chance,” Frierson said. “I just knew that my child was gone.”

Authorities booked the alleged shooter, whose name was withheld because he’s a juvenile, on suspicion of murder.

His father, Arkete Davis, 53, was booked on suspicion of possession of a firearm by a felon, criminal storage of a firearm, carrying a stolen loaded firearm in a vehicle, child endangerment and acting as an accessory to a crime after the fact, according to inmate records.

He was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday. It wasn’t clear if either suspect retained legal counsel. The area public defender’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Investigators believe Davis tried to dispose of the gun in a trash can after the attack, according to a statement from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office.

The suspected shooter was dispatched by his father to retrieve cigarettes from his car and, while there, grabbed the gun, which was stolen and improperly stored, the sheriff’s office said.

Though there are differing accounts of what led up to the shooting, Frierson said the neighbor’s child told her that the suspect angrily walked off after losing the race and returned with a gun. After coming back, he shot KJ in the neck without saying a word, Frierson said.

She described her son as generous, smart, friendly, inquisitive and helpful. He was always helping the older women in the neighborhood bring in their groceries, Frierson said.

“There’s nobody that met that boy that did not come back and tell me, to the side, like, ‘Your son – you raised that boy good. He’s such a good kid,'” Frierson said through tears.

Last year, KJ found a new community in the Sacramento Youth Football team Jr. Football Mustangs, which said in a statement that KJ “will truly be missed by all of your Mustangs family and friends.” 

Frierson said one of her fondest memories of KJ was his unbridled joy after reaching a championship game with his brother and other teammates, just days after finding out that his father had died.

The mother said the alleged shooter would often knock on her door to ask to play with her kids, and she was heartbroken that her son was allegedly killed by someone he considered a friend.

She blamed the suspect’s father for allegedly being “careless” with a firearm.

“For you to be so careless, to have something like that — a gun — easily accessible to your 10-year-old child, it just says a lot about you,” Frierson said, addressing Davis.