Agency reveals new details on 4-year-old’s fatal shooting

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A mother of 11 remains behind bars with her oldest son nearly two weeks after a 4-year-old boy died from a gunshot wound.

Brittany Ryans and Ladarian Ryans are charged in the death of 4-year-old Zykee Ryans.

Through an open records request to the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services, News 12 learned officials with that agency think a 6-year-old was the one who shot Zykee. It was originally reported by the Richmond County Coroner’s Office that Zykee died of self-inflicted gunshot wound.

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DFCS interviewed three of the children inside the apartment and all said the same thing regarding who pulled the trigger. The shooting incident happened on Nov. 12, and Zykee died just days before his fifth birthday.

Documents from DFCS say 12 people were in the home and three did not live there. Most were under the age of 16.

DFCS interviews point to the mom’s concern about a gun possibly being brought into the home. The reports also point to the mom struggling to maintain a home.

The interviews from DFCS show she tells caseworkers she was in the kitchen getting ready to wash clothes because their washer was not working.

DFCS documents described the apartment this way: The living room floor covered with clothes, trash, pill bottles, and dirty diapers, dog feces on the kitchen floor, and a 9 mm gun in the room where Zykee was shot and a bullet hole in the wall.

News 12 asked if DFCS had investigated the mother before the deadly occurrence, but the agency said any previous case files were not going to be made to the public, citing Georgia‘s open records law.

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