ATLANTA — The babysitter of a 3-year-old boy shot and killed on Easter Sunday is in jail facing murder charges, but police are still looking for her son.
Channel 2’s Eryn Rogers spoke with a family spokesperson who says they want Jermaine Hardeman to do the right thing and turn himself in.
Troy Huff says he was a mentor to Hardeman through the Boys and Girls Club.
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For the first time, he’s speaking on behalf of the suspects’ family and explaining what they say happened when Armani Lyons was shot.
“[Barbara Edwards] rushed to the living room. She rushed to the living room, yeah, and that’s where he was, yeah, and called the police,” Huff said.
Hardeman, 35, was also home at the time.
Rogers reached out to police for an update and was told it is open and active.
Neither police nor Huff could explain exactly how the 3-year-old boy got shot.
“If I knew, I would tell,” Huff said. “This family needs closure. This family needs to know.”
Body camera video shows Edwards being arrested on Monday.
“She did not run. She was scared for her life,” Huff said.
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He says that she intended on turning herself in before police arrested her.
Huff said that, as kids, Hardeman was good at finding hiding spots.
“When we played hide and go seek, he could hide really well,” he said.
But he’s urging Hardeman to give up his hiding spot and surrender.
“Jermaine, if you out there, turn yourself in, man. Turn yourself in,” Huff pleaded.
Lyons’ grandmother doesn’t believe Edwards was going to turn herself in, but wants Hardeman to surrender.
“He should listen to his family and do what’s best. Do the right thing instead of running. Stop running,” Lyons’ grandmother, Trinetta Julian, said.
Both Edwards and Hardeman are facing charges of felony murder, cruelty to children and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
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