NEW ORLEANS — NFL star and Louisiana native Tyrann Mathieu will pay the funeral costs for Devante Bryant, the 9-year-old boy fatally shot in New Orleans Monday.
Mathieu's agent said that the Kansas City Chief's safety wanted to help the family and felt paying for the funeral costs could help them focus on healing from such a tragic loss.
Devante was one of three children sitting on a stoop in the 7th Ward when someone came around the corner and opened fire on them.
Devante was shot in the head and died on the scene. The two other victims, both in their early teens, were wounded in the shooting but are in stable condition.
"I wanted to help the Bryant family because I am from the 7th Ward, and I felt that pain," Matthieu said. "I have a 7-year-old son that lives in New Orleans, and I couldn’t imagine something happening to him at that age. He is only 2 years younger than Devante."
NOPD has not identified a suspect or the motive behind the shooting.
"Young black children should not be dying from gun violence," Mathieu said. "Devante didn’t even have a chance to live his life before it was tragically taken away from him."
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