THE NORTH Carolina man suspected of gunning down a five-year-old boy who wandered into his yard had known his victim's family for years.

Darius Sessoms, 25, is accused of shooting Cannon Hinnant in the head on Sunday while the young boy was playing with his two sisters.

In a bizarre twist, Sessoms was apparently friends with the victim’s family.

“We used to play together and I never thought he’d kill someone,” said Rachel Pipkins, a cousin of Cannon’s mother, told WNCN.

Sessoms allegedly ate dinner with Cannon’s father on Saturday before the shooting.

He fled the scene after the shooting but was apprehended and taken into custody on Monday.

The motive for the alleged killing isn’t completely clear, but a GoFundMe page set up by the cousin of Cannon’s father claims the little boy was killed for wandering onto Sessoms’ property while playing.

“One minute he is enjoying his life, the next it all ends because he rode into his neighbor's yard,” the page says.

A second GoFundMe page was created on Wednesday by Gwen Hinnant, who claims to be Cannon's grandmother.

This allegedly prompted Sessoms to walk up to his young neighbor, and shoot him in the head, according to crimeonline.com.

Cannon's mother said on Wednesday she hopes her son's alleged killer will "burn in hell."

According to The Wilson Times, Sessoms has a criminal record that includes felony larceny of firearms, and both felony and misdemeanor marijuana charges.

He has done months at a time in prison on separate occasions and according to court records, he also has two pending felonies on his record.

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Separate shootings of children occurred in Wilson in 2014, and January of this year. The former resulted in death, while the latter resulted in injury.

Pipkin reflected on the tragedy.

"A mother now has to lay her son to rest at 5 years old which she should never have to do. He’ll never be forgotten,” she said.

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