Dallas police investigating after 3-year-old boy fatally shot

Dallas police are investigating after they say a toddler was fatally shot overnight.

The shooting happened around 1 a.m. Sunday on Wadsworth Drive, near Loop 12 and I-45, police said. Neighbors said that they heard cries for help and saw the child and his mother in the parking lot. They said they immediately called 911 and tried to get help.  

"I was scared that somebody shot a kid," neighbor Aundra Skinner said. "Somebody shot a baby, so that made my heart just, ooh, bounce."  

Dallas Fire-Rescue took the 3-year-old to a local hospital, where he died. On Monday, the Dallas County Medical Examiner's Office identified him as Amazi Aplon.

"He did not deserve that. He was such a loving kid," Felicia Kirvin said about her grandson, known as Mazi. "He's a lovable kid and very respectful. So loving and kind."

Now, it's starting to sink in that she'll have to navigate life without him. 

"I'm going to miss my grandbaby. His beautiful smile," Kirvin said. "He had the beautifullest [sic] smile ... His life was just taken away from him at such an early age. He didn't even get to enjoy his life."

Kirvin said she's still searching for answers about what happened. Dallas police say the circumstances surrounding this case are under investigation.

Now, as she prepares to bury her grandson, Kirvin said she's holding on to memories of a little boy whose life was just beginning.