An 18-year-old man faces a manslaughter charge after a 4-year-old boy was shot and killed inside an Orlando apartment last month, according to law enforcement authorities.
Brandon Sir Neveah McCloud was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of Kayden Pearson. He is currently being held without bond at the Orange County Jail.
According to a probable cause arrest affidavit from the Orlando Police Department, officers responded to a shooting call around 11:30 a.m. on July 17 at the Stella West Apartments. Upon arrival, officers observed a neighbor carrying the unresponsive child through the parking lot. Emergency medical personnel transported Kayden to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead from a gunshot wound to the chest.
Investigators noted blood in the living room and bedroom of the apartment, as well as a spent shell casing inside a trash can. Officers located McCloud in a neighboring apartment shortly after arriving at the scene.
During an initial interview with police, McCloud claimed he and his girlfriend were returning from a store when they heard a gun go off and found the boy shot. McCloud subsequently requested an attorney, ending the interview, and was initially released.
Over the following weeks, detectives interviewed several individuals connected to the incident.
A neighbor stated she went into the apartment after residents frantically knocked on her door for help. Seeing the child wounded, she attempted to transport him to the hospital herself before encountering arriving officers.
The apartment owner told police she was in her bedroom when Kayden walked in, holding his stomach, and collapsed. She reported that McCloud and his girlfriend were the only other people inside the residence at the time of the shooting.
McCloud’s girlfriend told investigators that Kayden had followed the couple into a bedroom, where she and McCloud were sitting on a bed while the child was on an adjacent couch. She reported hearing a gunshot while looking at her phone.
Officers noted in the affidavit that while she acknowledged seeing McCloud with a firearm earlier that day, her statements regarding whether he was handling the weapon on the bed were inconsistent.
Investigators later examined data from McCloud’s cell phone. According to the affidavit, detectives found a video recorded approximately 75 minutes before the incident showing McCloud smoking marijuana and appearing impaired.
Cell phone records also revealed a Google search for the phrase “how to get gunpowder off you” conducted in the minutes immediately following the shooting.
“This brief interval represented a critical period during which life-saving aid could have been rendered to Kayden,” investigators wrote in the affidavit. “Instead, the search demonstrates that Brandon used his phone to seek information regarding the removal of gunpowder residue from his person during the immediate aftermath of the shooting. This showed Brandon’s mentality was focused on escaping guilt rather than taking the opportunity to preserve life, adding to a consciousness of guilt.”
Police concluded that McCloud’s handling of the loaded firearm led to the child’s death.
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