RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — The Riviera Beach community came together Sunday evening to remember the life of a 7-year-old boy who was shot and killed while sleeping inside his home last week.
A vigil was held in memory of Dexter Fergusson at Kelsey Park in Lake Park.
According to Riviera Beach police, Fergusson was sleeping Wednesday at his home on AC Evans Street when a gunman fired shots directly into Dexter's bedroom window.
"Dexter, if you can hear me, baby, just know, baby, I'm sorry," his mother said during Sunday night's vigil. "Dexter, I love you. I love you so much. I am so heartbroken, baby."
Balloons brought to the vigil adorned images of the boy's favorite superheroes. Others were released into the sky from Kelsey Park.
"I'm not going to see him anymore," Dexter Fergusson Sr. said. "That's a hard pill to accept, that he's not going to be around and missing the things that he used to do to make me smile. That's where I'm at. I'm still stuck on the memories."
Riviera Beach Police Chief Osgood said at least one gunman approached the home and fired multiple rounds while Dexter's family of four was inside.
Fergusson and his mother, Addiscia Ball, were rushed to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach with gunshot wounds, but the child did not survive.
"I think the gun violence needs to stop," Fergusson Sr. said. "Especially when it has something to do with innocent children, innocent blood, you know, children that had nothing to do with anything that was going on."
Dexter's grandmother said her grandson was a sweet boy who always asked if she was all right.
"Whoever did this, I want them to turn themselves in, because that's not right to take some kid's life," Deloris Smith said.
The shooter has not been caught and investigators said they are following up on promising leads in the case.
