Cannon Hinnant’s Mother: ‘My Baby Didn’t Deserve’ to Be Murdered

Cannon Hinnant’s mother is heartbroken that her son was fatally shot at point-blank range in North Carolina, but she remains hopeful.

Bonny Waddell remains hopeful that the suspect, Darius Sessoms, will be prosecuted and that she and her family can carry on Cannon’s legacy.

But at the same time, she is struggling to understand why it happened.

“My baby didn’t deserve this,” Waddell told WRAL.

The community is also grieving with the family. People lit candles outside the Wilson County Courthouse on Friday night, and dozens of people attended Hinnant’s funeral on Thursday night.

“It’s sad that a little boy that’s five-years-old can be taken away from his family. I have a four-year-old little girl and I just can’t imagine,” funeral attendee Christopher Joseph told WITN.

A GoFundMe page organized by Cannon’s grandmother, Gwen Hinnant, raised more than $621,000 as of Saturday afternoon. The initial goal for the fundraiser was $5,000 to help the family with expenses related to his funeral services.

Cannon was shot in the head at point-blank range last week while he was playing outside with his two sisters, one seven-year-old and one eight-year-old. He died later at a local hospital.

Police arrested Sessoms, 25, of Wilson, on a charge of first-degree murder.

Cannon’s murder was also the subject of a social media hashtag on Thursday called #SayHisName, as five mainstream broadcast news outlets refused to report on the incident.