Louisville police seek killer of 7-year-old, shot as he ate cake, played on his iPad



LOUISVILLE, Kentucky — Two days after a stray bullet struck a seven-year-old Kentucky boy as he ate cake at his kitchen table, Louisville police are pleading for help in tracking down the child's killer.

Police Detective Stephen Snider asked that witnesses to the gunfire that killed Dequante Hobbs Jr. come forward. Snider said Tuesday that investigators have conducted several interviews, but says there are "many unanswered questions."

The boy was playing on his iPad and eating a bedtime snack when the bullet smashed through a window and struck him in the head Sunday night, May 21st.

His death comes amid struggles to overcome Louisville's record-setting homicide rate last year. Police say the boy's death was the 49th homicide investigated in Louisville this year.

Family members of Hobbs Jr. told WLKY he was the fifth person in their family to be killed in nearly a year. Last May the boy's cousins, Larry Ordway and Maurice Gordon were stabbed and burned. In August, Troyvonte Hurt was killed in a drive-by shooting. Hurt's mother is the first cousin of Hobbs' mom. On Derby Day 2017, Dequante's cousin, Jaylin Hobbs was shot and killed in the Chickasaw neighborhood, according to WLKY.

A balloon release was planned later Tuesday where Dequante was shot.