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'He should have been safe in his bed': four US teenagers charged with murder after sleeping four-year-old boy is shot dead in drive-by

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026 · last updated 3 October 2026.

Caleb Flax was shot dead as he lay in bed beside his mother during a drive-by attack on their Charlotte, North Carolina home, weeks after he had started school.
Caleb Flax was shot dead as he lay in bed beside his mother during a drive-by attack on their Charlotte, North Carolina home, weeks after he had started school.

Four-year-old Caleb Flax was shot in the head as he lay in bed beside his mother, Bryanna Flax, who desperately tried to shield him during a drive-by attack on their Charlotte, North Carolina home at around 3am on September 20. Seven armed suspects in two stolen cars fired 84 rounds into four occupied homes in what police chief Estella Patterson called "an act of unthinkable violence." Four teenagers — Ar'montae Johnson, 16, Jaylen Barber, 16, Antonio Ladson, 17, and Ian Garland, 17 — have been charged with murder as adults, alongside a fifth man, Terrance Jackson, 22, charged as an accessory.

The attack was carried out as retaliation for a previous incident; Johnson admitted to handing over stolen car keys in the knowledge that the group was armed.

Adult woman Kaley Collins suffered critical injuries in the shooting; nine other adults and five children inside the homes were unharmed.

Caleb was buried on the same day the final arrests were announced — he had only just started school weeks before he was killed.

MoreThe IndependentFour year-old boy shot dead while sleeping as 80 bullets fired in drive-by: ‘He should have been safe in his bed’Daily Mail AUFour teenagers charged with murder over 'unthinkable' killing of four-year-old boy who was shot while asleep in his bedNY PostNorth Carolina boy Caleb Flax, 4, shot and killed while sleeping in own home as four teens arrestedThe Independent on MSNFour year-old shot dead as he slept when 80 bullets fired in drive-byWBTV‘Tragedy’: 7 teens fired 84 rounds in under a minute, killing 4-year-old, Charlotte police say - WBTV
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