North Carolina family files lawsuit after 8-year-old girl shot, killed by babysitter's young son

CUMBERLAND COUNTY, N.C. -- A family in Fayetteville, North Carolina has filed a lawsuit nearly two years after an 8-year-old girl died after being shot by her babysitter's son.

Jenesis Dockery was at her babysitter's home in Fayetteville when she was shot and killed allegedly by her sitter's son in July 27, 2023.

Tuesday, the family is calling for accountability and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against that babysitter, Chrystle Michael, and the gun's owner, Thomas Michel. The lawsuit alleges both owned and failed to secure the Phoenix Arms Raven .25 automatic pistol used in the shooting.

Dockery's family says the babysitter was a longtime friend of the family and had cared for Dockery and her young sister multiple times.

"Jenesis was so full of joy and light and the pain we feel never gets any easier to bear," her father Jon Dockery said. "Today is about doing something with that hurt so that no family ever has to feel it again."

"The simple fact is that, if either Chrystle or Thomas Michael had taken their responsibilities seriously, Jenesis would be alive today," national civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels said. "If Chrystle Michael had been supervising the children in her charge, she could have stopped her son from pulling the trigger. If Thomas Michael had secured his guns, there would have been nothing to shoot. Yet, somehow, neither of them have been charged for their negligence. It's time they faced some consequences for their actions."

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The Dockery family is represented by renowned national civil rights attorneys Harry Daniels and Chimeaka White.

In a news release, the attorneys say that since the girl's death, multiple children have been killed by unsecured firearms, including two already in 2025.

On Jan. 23, 2025, a 7-year-old in Kannapolis, North Carolina was shot and killed by her sibling.

On Feb. 28, 2025, a 5-year-old girl died after being shot by another child who was playing with a gun inside a home. ABC Raleigh-Durham affiliate WTVD covered the incident, which happened in Henderson, North Carolina. The child who fired the gun was just 3 years old, Henderson police confirmed.

The Henderson Police Department said the 3-year-old got a hold of an unsecured gun, and fired it at the 5-year-old. First responders provided medical assistance after arriving on the scene, but were unable to save the child.

Morgan Deans, 24, was charged in the investigation for failing to secure a 9mm handgun. She was given a $6,000 unsecured bond, Henderson Police Chief Marcus Barrow said.