William Munford's mother warned him not to touch the sawed-off shotgun he found in an alley. She told him not even to go near it.
Less than three hours later, the 10-year-old boy was dead -- killed with the shotgun by a 10-year-old friend, police said.
The young suspect was charged as a juvenile last night with first-degree murder, reckless endangerment and two weapons offenses. "It is our determination at this point that this was a willful act," said Officer Robert W. Weinhold, a police spokesman.
Police said the youngsters -- next-door neighbors -- were standing on a porch in the 2800 block of Violet Ave., about three blocks from their own homes in the Northwest Baltimore community, when the shooting occurred about 3:30 p.m.
Officer Weinhold said the youngster with the shotgun pointed it at young Munford several times, despite his protests, and was pointing it at the victim's chest when the weapon discharged.
Struck in the chest at close range, the Munford boy collapsed near the front door, which was trimmed with Christmas wreaths. He was declared dead at the scene.
The suspect was taken into custody at his home, where he lives with his grandmother. Police said he ran there after the shooting, tossing the gun over a chain-link fence and into a back yard. He was was being questioned last night by homicide detectives.
Edna Munford, the victim's 35-year-old mother, said her son had come home from a half-day session at the Robert W. Coleman Elementary School and told her he "knew where a real gun was, that it was in an alley."
"I told William, 'Do not touch the gun,' " Ms. Munford said in an inter view as detectives stood over her son's body, lying about 10 feet away. "I didn't think to call the police."
Neighbors insisted that the shooting was a mistake, saying the two boys were friends who played basketball and football together in the Lower Park Heights neighborhood.
"I don't think it was meant to be," said Gloria Jacobs, whose 10-year-old child, Quantae Lane, played with the Munford boy. "The children were friends. They played together every day."
Dozens of neighbors and children gathered around the slaying scene and watched as detectives gathered evidence around the small body draped in a white sheet.
The boy's New York Giants football lay near the sidewalk, untouched. The shotgun, sawed off at the barrel and curled at the handle, was visible in a grass lot across the street, being guarded by a uniformed police officer.
The Munford boy is the third child age 15 or under to be shot and killed in the city this month, a particularly violent December averaging more than one homicide a day.
"He was a nice kid who played football around here," said William Hill, 45, who just moved into a house two doors from where the shooting occurred. "I saw him out here last week. He never gave us any trouble at all. He always talked to me and was real nice."
As police pieced the story together last night, Officer Weinhold said one of the youths had carried the shotgun to the front porch of a friend's house on Violet Avenue.
Officer Weinhold said a young child would not have much trouble firing a shotgun. "All it takes is a little bit of pressure, and the damage is done."
A next-door neighbor, Kelly Jones, 26, said she had just strung the lights on her Christmas tree and was upstairs talking with a friend on the phone when she heard a "boom."
"It wasn't just a gunshot," Ms. Jones said. "It was a boom. I told the person on the phone that I had to go because my tree just fell. But when I got downstairs, it wasn't the tree."
She stepped outside on her porch and saw the body. "He was just lying there," Ms. Jones said, tears streaming down her face. "He wasn't moving or anything."
Officer Weinhold said the suspect ran across Violet Avenue, dumped the gun and went to his grandmother's house around the corner in the 3800 block of Towanda Ave., next door to where the Munford youth lived.
The victim's mother was visiting the grandmother when the boy ran inside. "He didn't say anything," Ms. Munford said. "He was just quiet." She said she didn't know what happened at the house. "They fight sometimes, but they are not enemies."
The grandmother, who would not disclose her name, did not want to talk last night. She was caring for Ms. Munford's two other children, ages 12 and 16.
Several police officers stood guard around the neighboring rowhouses on Towanda Avenue, as family members from both houses came and went, trying to understand what happened to claim a young life four days before Christmas.
Officer Weinhold said the suspect will be held at the Waxter Children's Center in Laurel while the case is reviewed by juvenile authorities and the state's attorney's office.