Trusting your child with another person is not an easy thing to do. My husband and I have only left our son with a handful of people over the years because I’m so leery of what could happen to him. When you do give someone that responsibility, you’re really trusting them with every fiber of your being. After all, thy are looking after the most important person in your life. When that trust is betrayed in any way, there is no bigger heartbreak.
When it leads to the most tragic outcome of losing your child, the grief and rage have to be incomparable.
Without a doubt, the family of slain 3-year-old Armani Deshawn Lyons is feeling that loss immensely.
On April 5, 2026, at around 12:40 a.m., police in Atlanta, Georgia, arrived at the scene where the young boy was shot, Law & Crime reports. Paramedics rushed him to the hospital where he tragically was pronounced dead, according to a statement from the police.
Authorities were able to trace the tragic incident to 71-year-old Barbara Edwards and 35-year-old Jermaine Hardeman, and obtained arrest warrants for both. The pair were on the run for two days after the incident, reported Fox 5 Atlanta. The following Tuesday, April 7, Edwards was booked into the Fulton County Jail. Hardeman remains at large.
Police have not yet revealed what led to the shooting.
Assistant Police Chief Carven Tyus said at a news conference that Armani was left in Edwards’ care by the boy’s mother, Dinisha Lyons, for her shift working at the airport, reports WFSB.
“I’m not gonna see him again. No more laughing. No more playing. No more nothing,“ Lyons told the outlet. “He was a baby who didn’t even get to see life for real.”
The boy’s grandmother, Trinetta Julian, told local outlet WAGA that they had a special bond.
“Every time I pulled up, he’d just run out,” she told the outlet. “He’d run to my car and say ‘Grandma, Grandma!’ He used to be so happy.”
“I just can’t believe this happened,” she continued. “I can’t believe somebody would do this to him. Like, why?”
The family began a GoFundMe in hopes of collecting enough to give the young boy a proper funeral.
“On Easter Sunday, April 5, our sweet Armani was taken from us far too soon due to senseless gun violence,” the fundraiser description reads. “He was only 3 years old and would have been turning 4 on May 3. Armani was full of life, joy, and innocence a bright light who brought smiles to everyone he met.”
Both Edwards and Hardeman face a multitude of charges, including felony murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and second-degree child cruelty.
