A 14-year-old boy in Charleston, South Carolina, has lost his left eye after being shot in the face in an incident involving a 17-year-old friend, who has been arrested and charged, according to police.
The shooting has left the younger teenager facing a difficult recovery, both physically and emotionally, as his family struggles to come to terms with the incident.
Derrick Simmons was reportedly handling a firearm with his older friend when the 17-year-old allegedly pointed the weapon at him and fired. Charleston Police said officers arrived at a downtown apartment complex at approximately 1 p.m. Friday and found Derrick suffering from a gunshot wound to the face.
The teenager’s mother, Davida Simmons, said the shooting had dramatically altered her son’s life, particularly his hopes of continuing to play football.
“He was like, ‘Mom, I can’t play football no more.’ And I tell him, ‘You can still do anything that’s possible. Don’t let this hinder you,’” Simmons said.
Mother Learns of Son’s Injuries at Hospital
Derrick’s mother said she became alarmed after receiving numerous calls about the incident, prompting her to rush to the hospital to find out what had happened to her son.
“I got the first call around 1:35. I had, like, 20-something missed calls… So, I was panicking,” Simmons said. ” So, I came down to the hospital and talked to one of the nurses. She was telling me that my son was shot twice. He was shot once in the eye. Then, he was shot once in the shoulder. So, I asked the doctor, ‘Can you save his eye?’ His eye is not savable at all. His eye is completely gone.”
According to Simmons, her son has undergone surgery and is now recovering, but the emotional consequences of the shooting remain significant.
She recalled reassuring him that surviving the incident was the most important thing, particularly as he dealt with the aftermath around his birthday.
“He was telling me that he was scared, and I told him, ‘The best birthday gift was you still here,’” Simmons said.
The mother also described the distress her son experienced as he struggled to understand why he could no longer open his injured eye.
“He was trying to figure out why he can’t open his eyes. He was trying to open his eyes. So, he finally grasped the idea last night when I told him, ‘You can’t open your eyes because your eye is not there anymore.’ So, he started crying because he was trying to figure out why. Why did this happen to me?” Simmons said.
Derrick’s recovery is expected to involve further adjustments, including the eventual fitting of a prosthetic eye.
Mother Calls for Responsible Firearm Storage
In response to the incident, Simmons has appealed to firearm owners to take precautions to prevent children from gaining access to guns.
“If you own a firearm, the best thing for you to do, if you have kids that’s active or any situation, it’s best to keep it locked up because things like this can happen. I don’t want another mother to go through what I’m going through,” she said.
Police said the 17-year-old suspect admitted to shooting Derrick. He was arrested and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, and possession of a firearm under 18.
The suspect was subsequently booked into the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
Police Highlight Community’s Role in Preventing Gun Violence
Jerome Smalls, developer of youth outreach for the Charleston Police Department, said addressing firearm-related incidents among young people requires broader community involvement and a shift in attitudes toward guns.
“There’s a culture around firearms, right? Around it being exciting or cool or part of a facade or an identity. We need to do a better job, both in schools and our communities and as a whole, in changing that culture and that narrative of what it means to be cool and to be associated with firearms,” Smalls said.
He also warned that unsecured firearms left inside vehicles can become accessible to young people through a practice known as “poking,” in which individuals check vehicle door handles to find unlocked cars.
“The kids call it poking, where they go pull loose door handles, and if it’s unlocked, that’s the number one way firearms are getting in the hands of not just young people but other folks in our community,” he said.
Smalls said the police department is collaborating with community organizations, including Representation Matters, to develop youth programmes designed to reduce young people’s access to firearms.
He stressed that promoting responsible gun ownership could help prevent similar incidents, although it would not eliminate the problem entirely.
“If we can get a better hold in marketing and understanding that hey, you have a very dangerous piece of machinery that you own, and you need to be accountable and responsible with that machinery, I think that right there – it doesn’t end it all – but it can curve a lot of young people getting their hands on firearms,” he said.
Youth Advocate Calls for Greater Parental Involvement
Carlos DeVeaux, co-executive director of the Representation Matters Foundation, said the shooting was particularly distressing because he works closely with the teenage suspect and his family.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation, and it’s kind of personal because I work hand-in-hand with the children in the community. The teenager that it happened to, I work hand-in-hand with him and his parents,” DeVeaux said. “I just think that parents need to pay more attention to the children and don’t give them too much options… But most of all, men, more Black men need to step up and get into these children’s lives, pay attention to their movement, pay attention to what bothers them because too much guns are getting into these children’s hands.”
DeVeaux called for more parental supervision and stronger mentorship, particularly from men in the community, to help young people navigate challenges and avoid potentially dangerous situations.
He added that his organisation seeks to encourage young people by connecting them with relatable role models who demonstrate that success is achievable.
“If you show a child that somebody that looks like them have done it before, they feel that they can do it,” he said.
As Derrick begins the long process of recovering from his injuries, his mother hopes the incident will encourage families to take firearm safety more seriously and prevent other children from experiencing similar trauma.
