The family of Seven Shirley, a 14-year-old described as a nephew of rapper 21 Savage, is calling for community action after a tragedy in Stockbridge, Georgia, claimed the boy's life and left his 12-year-old sister hospitalized.
Shirley died by suicide on July 22 at a home on Lakeview Place in southeast Atlanta after he accidentally shot his sister Lyric in the neck.
Lyric survived and has undergone three surgeries on her neck and vocal cords.
According to Seven's friends, he had allegedly bought the gun on the street for $200 — reportedly after his best friend was shot in the week before the incident. His grandmother, Sharon Smith, who has raised Seven since he was an infant, said the family had no idea he had the weapon.
"We don't know. We don't know," Smith told 11Alive. "Something needs to be done about that person who sold that gun because if he would have never bought that gun, this would have never happened."
Smith also offered a heartbreaking theory about her grandson's final moments.
"Just that fast that boy had made the decision to kill himself," she said. "He probably sat up there and thought, 'I'm finna go to jail, they're going to ridicule me, everybody is going to be doing this and that and this, and this and that,' and he couldn't take it."
The tragedy comes weeks after another blow to the family: Seven's 13-year-old cousin, DeMarcus Shirley, was killed in a drive-by shooting while staying with friends in DeKalb County earlier this month.
21 Savage acknowledged the loss on his Instagram Stories, posting a childhood photo of a young boy wearing a 21 chain with the caption, "Remember when you was a baby" alongside broken heart emojis.
The family released a statement calling for broader action: "Please help us get these guns off our streets. Far too many young lives are being taken by senseless gun violence. We must work together to stop the illegal sale and access of firearms to minors and do everything we can to protect our children. Our family has lost one child, and another is fighting for her life. No family should ever have to experience this kind of pain."
