ATHENS, Texas — Since Sunday evening, the Henderson County Sheriff’s Office and other agencies are still searching for answers after an 8-year-old child died after being shot in the head
Sheriff Botie Hillhouse with the says they’ve spoken to numerous neighbors since then in hopes of potential leads.
“We spoke with many neighbors that night and continue to speak to neighbors we’re actually unable to find anyone that was hunting in that location east of the residence.” We still have a lot of unanswered questions,” said Sheriff Hillhouse.
Sheriff Hillhouse says the influx of crime involving children has increased over the past few months and is starting to become too common.
“Unfortunately, we deal with tragedies like this all the time,” said Sheriff Hillhouse. “It affects everyone differently. In the past few months we’ve had to deal with a lot of child deaths and things like this."
Last year alone, the HCSO had two investigators work over 260 child crime cases.
With those numbers, the sheriff’s office and other agencies are working together to develop a child task force to combat these crimes.
“When a child is victimized, it not only affects the child, but our whole community,” said Jenny Palmer, Henderson County District Attorney. “It affects our school system, our juvenile children system that child and their family. It’s really just a passion of mine to make sure we not only seek justice for those children but also to make sure they have the services they need.”
They’ll partner with local counseling services to ensure the child receives the proper care they need.
“Through Henderson County Help Center and Maggie's House, there are counseling services that are provided," said Palmer. "We can make sure that the children receive the right medical treatment that they need as well. That’s important that they receive the right counseling treatment that they need after a traumatic event.”
The sheriff’s office is currently in the first stage of the Henderson County Child Task Force and is expected to be in full operation later this year.