Person In Custody For The Death Of A 7-Year Old Boy Shot In His Backyard

Xavier Usanga was shot and killed Monday while he and his sisters played in the backyard of their home in the city’s Hyde Park neighborhood, police said.

One of his sisters and her friend were grazed, Xavier’s father, Ifiok Usanga, told CNN in an interview Wednesday.

Two men were shooting at each other in the street when the child became another innocent victim of gun violence, the boy’s mother said.

An 18-year old was also critically wounded during the summer night gun battle, according to Major Mary Warnecke, deputy commander of investigative services for the St. Louis Metro Police Department.

Xavier was scheduled to start second grade at Clay Elementary on Tuesday, his mother told KTVI.

Mourners attended a vigil for Xavier on Wednesday night. There were flowers and candles and action figures of Captain America and Iron Man.

“The people in the community, everybody knew my son. He was the boy who always smiled,” Xavier’s mother old CNN affiliate KMOV before the vigil. “He would run up and give you a hug.”