A 14-year-old Georgia boy described by his family as being like a nephew to Atlanta rapper 21 Savage died by suicide after the family says he accidentally shot his 12-year-old sister in the neck inside a Stockbridge home.
11Alive reporter Chase Houle reported that Seven Shirley died Wednesday afternoon after his sister, Lyric, was wounded in what relatives described as an accidental shooting. Lyric survived but has undergone multiple surgeries as doctors continue treating injuries to her neck and vocal cords.
For Seven’s grandmother, Sharon Smith, the speed with which one accident became two family tragedies has been almost impossible to process.
“Just that fast that boy had made the decision to kill himself,” Smith told Houle.
Grandmother Believes Seven Panicked After the Shooting
Smith said she believes Seven may have become overwhelmed immediately after realizing what had happened to his younger sister.
She speculated that the teenager feared going to jail, being ridiculed, and facing the reaction of people around him.
“He probably sat up there and thought, ‘I’m finna go to jail. They’re gonna ridicule me,’” Smith said, adding that she believes “he couldn’t take it.”
Her explanation is the family’s interpretation of Seven’s state of mind, not something investigators have independently established.
What is clear from the family’s account is that the shooting of Lyric was believed to be accidental and that Seven died shortly afterward.
The sequence is especially painful because there appears to have been almost no time between the mistake and its irreversible consequences.
One terrible moment involving a firearm became a second tragedy before adults around the teenagers had any real chance to intervene.
Smith Says She Raised Seven From Infancy
Houle reported that Smith had raised Seven since he was 11 months old.
She remembered him not through the shooting, but as a grandson who tried to take care of her when she was in pain.
“There wasn’t nothing in this world he wouldn’t do for me,” Smith told 11Alive.
She recalled Seven telling her to sit in a chair so he could push her wherever she needed to go when she was hurting.
Those memories offer a very different image from the final moments that now define the public story surrounding his death.
For families dealing with a tragedy this sudden, that distinction matters. Seven was a 14-year-old family member long before he became the subject of a police investigation or news report, and his relatives are now trying to hold onto that part of him while also confronting what happened.
The family also said Seven was close enough to rapper 21 Savage that they described him as the artist’s nephew.
One Question Remains: Where Did the Gun Come From?
The biggest unanswered question for the family is how Seven obtained the firearm.
When Houle asked Smith what Seven had been doing with the gun, she said the family simply did not know.
“We don’t know. We don’t know,” she said.
Smith later told 11Alive that Seven’s friends said he had purchased the firearm on the street for $200.
She said she did not know who allegedly sold it to him.
Smith believes the person responsible for selling the firearm should be held accountable, arguing that the shooting would not have happened if Seven had never been able to obtain the gun.
“Something needs to be done with the person who sold that gun,” she said.
That question may become one of the most important parts of whatever investigation follows.
A 14-year-old gaining access to a firearm through an alleged street sale raises obvious concerns about how easily minors can obtain weapons outside legal channels, particularly when neither the child nor the family fully understands where the gun originated.
The tragedy also shows how little room there is for error once a loaded gun is in the hands of a young teenager. A moment that might otherwise have ended with panic, an apology, or an emergency call instead left one child dead and another seriously wounded.
Lyric Has Undergone Three Surgeries
Seven’s 12-year-old sister survived the shooting but suffered serious injuries.
The family told Houle that Lyric had undergone three surgeries involving her neck and vocal cords.
They did not know when she would be able to return home.
In a statement shared with 11Alive, the family asked people to continue supporting Lyric as she recovered while also giving relatives privacy as they prepared to bury Seven.
The statement described Lyric as “fighting for her life” and asked for prayers for her healing, strength, and recovery.
The family also called for broader action to reduce illegal firearm sales and prevent children from gaining access to guns.
“Far too many young lives are being taken by senseless gun violence,” the statement said.
They urged the community to work together to stop illegal sales to minors and protect children from similar tragedies.
That plea gives the family’s grief a broader focus. They are not only asking what happened inside one Stockbridge home, but how a 14-year-old could reportedly obtain a gun in the first place.
The Family Was Already Grieving Another Child
The shooting came during an already devastating period for the family.
Smith told Houle that Seven’s cousin, 13-year-old DeMarcus Shirley, had been killed earlier in the month during a drive-by shooting in DeKalb County.
DeMarcus was reportedly staying overnight with friends when he was killed.
That means the family was already mourning the death of one young relative when Seven died and Lyric was hospitalized.
The closeness of those losses makes the situation especially difficult to absorb.
Within a matter of weeks, the same extended family was dealing with a child killed in a drive-by shooting, another child dead after an accidental shooting, and a 12-year-old girl recovering from serious injuries.
There is no easy lesson that makes that amount of grief less severe.
But the repeated presence of firearms around children is impossible to ignore.
Family Asks for Privacy and Change
Houle’s report showed a family trying to do two things at once: mourn Seven and search for answers about how the gun reached him.
They are also waiting to see how well Lyric recovers.
In the statement provided to 11Alive, relatives asked the public to respect their privacy as they prepared for Seven’s funeral while continuing to support Lyric.
They also made clear that they want the circumstances surrounding the gun investigated.
For Smith, the central question remains one she cannot yet answer: who sold a firearm to her 14-year-old grandson, and why was it so easy for him to get one?
The family’s account leaves other questions unanswered as well, including exactly what happened in the moments before Lyric was shot and whether anyone else knew Seven had the firearm.
What is known is already devastating enough.
According to the family, an accidental shot wounded a 12-year-old girl, a frightened 14-year-old then died by suicide, and a family already grieving another young relative was left mourning again.
Lyric’s recovery now remains their immediate concern, while the circumstances surrounding Seven’s access to the gun remain an unresolved part of the tragedy.
Mark grew up in the heart of Texas, where tornadoes and extreme weather were a part of life. His early experiences sparked a fascination with emergency preparedness and homesteading. A father of three, Mark is dedicated to teaching families how to be self-sufficient, with a focus on food storage, DIY projects, and energy independence. His writing empowers everyday people to take small steps toward greater self-reliance without feeling overwhelmed.
