Shooting of Kayla Rolland - Aftermath

Aftermath

At six years of age, Kayla Rolland was believed to be the youngest school shooting victim in U.S. history until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012. Dedric Owens is the youngest school shooter. Due to Dedric Darnell Owens' age (born on May 5, 1993) and the legal claim that at that age he would lack the ability to form intent, Dedric Darnell Owens was not charged with the murder. In most U.S. states, six-year-olds are not liable for crimes they commit. In an 1893 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that "children under the age of 7 years could not be guilty of felony, or punished for any capital offense, for within that age the child is conclusively presumed incapable of committing a crime." This is followed in many U.S. states.

Jamelle James, who owned the .32-caliber semiautomatic pistol, eventually pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and spent 2 years and 5 months in prison before he was released on probation. The other adults involved would be in and out of court systems in the years to follow. Two years later, Buell Elementary School was closed, and was demolished in January 2009.