JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – An 8-year-old Jacksonville boy died after police said he accidentally shot himself in the chest with a handgun in Port Orange over the weekend.
Port Orange police said Christopher Scurry Jr. and his 12-year-old brother were visiting their grandmother in Port Orange when it appears Christopher shot himself with a 9 mm handgun. His brother performed CPR, but Christopher died at the hospital an hour later.
In a 911 call made on Friday, a neighbor and Christopher's brother can both be heard trying to save the boy's life.
"I have a gunshot victim," the caller told the operator.
The 8-year-old's mother, Davina Gooden, told News4Jax Tuesday that she's trying to figure out how to live life without her youngest son.
"Sometimes, I just feel numb," Gooden said. "I just wish I could wake up and none of this is real.
Gooden, who lives on Jacksonville's Westside, said she's still trying to come to terms with what happened.
"He would always say, 'Mama, I love you,'" Gooden said.
Gooden described her son as a smart, caring boy who loved his family. She said he was working to cope with loss of his father, who died six months ago.
IMAGES: Photos provided by family of Christopher Scurry Jr.
Investigators said they discovered the 9 mm handgun came from SCCY Industries, a gun manufacturer in Daytona Beach, and was one of 43 stolen by one of the company's employees in 2009. Police said they're working to determine how the gun got inside Christopher's grandmother's home.
"They went on vacation. And my son's not coming home," Gooden said. "I just wish I'd never sent my sons there. I love my family. I love my mom. I don't know what was going on in her home. But I know when I sent my children, I thought they were safe."
Gooden said she preached gun safety to her boys.
"I don't own a gun. I don't have any guns for that reason because I've watched the news of people's kids accidentally -- I never in a million years would have imagined that would be mine," Gooden said.
She warned other parents and grandparents to lock up their guns. She said she'll advocate gun safety for the rest of her life in memory of her son.
"Even when we were struggling, he would always say, 'Mommy, let's just pray. Let's just pray, Mommy. It's going to be OK, Mommy. It's going to be OK, Mommy.' And how I wish he was here today to say, 'Mommy, it's going to be OK,'" Gooden said.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to help Christopher's family with funeral expenses.