Killing of Kayla Rolland
Kayla Renee Rolland (May 12, 1993 – February 29, 2000) was an American six-year-old girl from Mount Morris Township, Michigan, United States, who was fatally shot on February 29, 2000 by a six-year-old classmate at Buell Elementary School in the Beecher Community School District. The boy had found the gun while living at his uncle's house; the house was a crack house where guns were frequently traded for drugs.
| Killing of Kayla Rolland | |
|---|---|
| Location | Mount Morris Township, Michigan, U.S. |
| Date | February 29, 2000 10:29 a.m. (EST) |
Attack type | Child-on-child homicide by shooting, manslaughter, school shooting |
| Weapon | .32-caliber handgun |
| Victim | Kayla Renee Rolland, aged 6 |
| Burial | Pine Grove Cemetery, Millington, Michigan |
| Perpetrator | 6-year-old male |
| Motive | Resentment |
| Convicted | Jamelle James (6-year-old male's uncle) |
| Verdict | Pleaded no contest |
| Convictions | Involuntary manslaughter |
| Sentence | 2 years and 5 months in prison |
The killing drew worldwide attention due to the particularly young ages of the victim and the perpetrator: Rolland was the youngest school shooting victim in the United States until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, and her assailant remains the youngest fatal school shooting perpetrator to date, and the second-youngest school shooting perpetrator in general. The boy was not charged with murder because of his age. Buell Elementary School closed in 2002 and was demolished in 2009.