LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Neighbors and loved ones of Kyan Higgins Jr., the 10-year-old who died after LMPD says his mother shot him and put his body in the trunk of her vehicle, reflected on his life in a vigil Sunday afternoon in the Algonquin neighborhood in Louisville.
"I'm just a neighbor who lives down the street,” said Jessica De Jesus, who hosted the vigil and calls the child's unfortunate death a tragedy. "He just looks like the sweetest little boy and it doesn't matter if I knew him or not, it shouldn't happen."
In addition to remembering the life of Higgins Jr., she says her 6-year-old son still struggles to understand the killing and reassures him and his three siblings of her role as their mother.
"To let them know that they will always be protected when they are with me," De Jesus said. "The one person that they are supposed to believe in and be protected by."
Higgins Jr.'s mother, Kaitlyn Higgins, 28, was arrested last week after someone called police saying they saw her with a gun and a boy wrapped in a blanket.
LMPD says she admitted to shooting him and trying to cut out the boy's tongue.
"I've never seen anything like this in my life," John Logan, who works in the neighborhood, said. "I got a child myself and I don't want my child to but hurt or whatever and it's very shocking to me."
De Jesus offers to support mothers in need of help.
"If you feel like you cannot have your kids in that moment or you feel like everything is going to awry bring them to me," De Jesus said. "I have snacks, I have food, I have TV - they can just play. Let them be kids and take a moment to regroup yourself as a mother and just let it go."
De Jesus says she will stop by the vigil site every day to ensure it's tidy and well-kept.
This has been the 56th fatal shooting this year, according to community activist Christopher 2X, who also attended the vigil.
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