A Georgia teenager described as a "nephew" to Grammy-winning rapper 21 Savage died by suicide on Wednesday afternoon after he accidentally shot his 12-year-old sister, according to local news reports. The incident occurred in Stockbridge, a suburb southeast of Atlanta.
Seven Shirley, 14, allegedly shot his sister, Lyric, in the neck before taking his own life, 11Alive reported, citing grieving relatives. Lyric Shirley remains hospitalized and has undergone multiple surgeries. Her condition has not been updated.
Sharon Smith, the teens' grandmother, told 11Alive that Seven, whom she raised from infancy, was a loving grandson. "Just that fast that boy had made the decision to kill himself," Smith 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 he couldn’t take it.'"
The family stated they do not know what Seven was doing with the gun. "We don’t know. We don’t know," Smith said. "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."
Rapper 21 Savage, whose real name is Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, posted an image on his Instagram Stories showing a young boy wearing a 21 chain, with the caption "Remember when you was a baby," accompanied by broken heart emojis. The family released a statement asking for privacy during their difficult time and requested prayers for Lyric's recovery.
This tragedy follows another loss for the family weeks earlier, when Seven's 13-year-old cousin, DeMarcus Shirley, was killed in a drive-by shooting in DeKalb County, according to Smith.