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Neighbors describe aftermath of shooting that killed 5-year-old

The top left apartment at this complex on Gordon Smith Boulevard is where 5-year-old Zachariah Nesbitt lived. He was shot in the chest at 8:42 p.m. Saturday, July 18.

photo by Michael Pitman The top left apartment at this complex on Gordon Smith Boulevard is where 5-year-old Zachariah Nesbitt lived. He was shot in the chest at 8:42 p.m. Saturday, July 18.

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By Michael D. Pitman, Staff Writer Updated 7:04 AM Monday, July 20, 2009

HAMILTON — While eating dinner Saturday night, July 18, in his Gordon Smith Boulevard apartment, Kenny Benjamin saw the aftermath of the shooting that killed a 5-year-old boy.

Benjamin said he saw Zachariah Nesbitt’s mother carry him outside and the boy’s father following on the phone. The boy was shot in the chest at approximately 8:42 p.m., police said, in what neighbors believe to be a self-inflicted accident.

“I was eating at the kitchen table when I looked outside and I saw the lady come outside with her son,” Benjamin said Sunday. “She started to walk out to the street a little bit and then her husband came down. He was on the phone telling someone to help and hurry up .”

The mother of Benjamin’s girlfriend went down and performed CPR until the ambulance arrived, he said. The boy was taken to The Fort Hamilton Hospital, where he later died, police said.

Hamilton police have not released many details of the shooting that occurred at 903 Gordon Smith, including how the boy was shot. But Benjamin and other neighbors heard the injury was self-inflicted.

“What I first heard was the boy shot himself,” he said. “I don’t know what happened.”

Many neighbors are confused about the incident because they did not hear a gunshot.

“We usually hear stuff, but not last night,” said Sarah Mullinix . “I don’t know why I wouldn’t have heard it because we hear everything.”

Mullinix was watching television with her 2-year-old daughter at the reported time of the shooting. She said she didn’t know about it until 9 p.m. Saturday, when her parents came to pick up her daughter.

Many of the apartment’s residents are parents, said Brian Miller. Miller’s 8-year-old son frequently played with Zachariah.

“I know it’s upset my son because they were good friends,” Miller said. “He’s even threw away all of his toy guns.”

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