The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the 5100 block of Archers Road in the city of Wilson.
[Ads /]
When officers arrived, they found 5-year-old Cannon Hinnant suffering from a gunshot wound. Officers and EMS immediately began performing lifesaving efforts.
Hinnant was taken to Wilson Medical Center where he later died.
[Ads /]
Wilson Police identified the alleged shooter as Darius N. Sessoms, 25, of Wilson. Sessoms was arrested and charged with first-degree murder on Monday.
READ ALSO: Zamar Jones, 7-year-old Philadelphia boy caught in crossfire, to be laid to rest
Charlene Walburn, a neighbor of Cannon, had a smile on her face when she described the little boy.
"He would come over, he and my husband would always talk back and forth and he would ask my husband to put air in his tire," she said. "If he saw me on the porch with a popsicle, he would always come over and ask me if he could have a popsicle."
But what happened Sunday night shocked them so much that they could not talk about it without choking up.
"We were eating our dinner and heard a bang. We knew it was a gunshot. So I told him to call 911, and I ran to the door."
They said they heard the cries of Cannon's father saying his son was shot.
"Our neighbor saw it. She said the young man just walked up to the little boy who was sitting on his bike, which he does every day."
"I just don't understand why he did it. How can you walk up to a little boy, point-blank, and put a gun to his head and just shoot him? How could anyone do that?"
The vigil is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the steps of the Wilson County Courthouse at 115 Nash Street in Wilson.
[Ads /]
Hinnant's mother posted to social media that she wanted as many people as possible to show up to the vigil to show love for Cannon.
READ ALSO: 6-year-old girl shot during West Philadelphia gun battle released from hospital, $10K reward offered
"I want everyone to show up for my baby if you love me and have any heart at all or loved my child please show up," she wrote.
A funeral for Hinnant is scheduled for Thursday night at Shingleton Funeral Home in Wilson.