‘He meant everything to me’: Father grieves loss of 6-year-old son after shooting

By Andie Bernhardt

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    MILWAUKEE (WDJT) — What would have been Rashadd Vinson-Turney’s son’s 7th birthday Friday, turned into a vigil for his heartbroken family and friends.

“We just been planning for his birthday and now that he isn’t here, it’s just unreal,” said Rashadd Vinson-Turney, Daquell Collins’ father. “It’s just crazy.”

Collins was 6 years old when he was shot and killed Tuesday night.

“He meant everything to me,” said Vinson-Turney. “He had a bright future ahead. He was a nice, sweet kid.”

Now, his father says the young boy who was full of energy and loved school is forever six.

“He loved to sing songs with me, go on car rides, and go to the park,” said Vinson-Turney. “He was a nature, outside kid. We would go on trails for walks, he just loved the outside. Loved classmates, loved school.”

Around 100 people showed up for the boy they call “King” in tears as they say they had to say goodbye too soon.

“He was a sweetie pie,” said Debra Guy, a family member at the vigil. “A cutie pie. He was real sweet and smart, you know. That’s just something that’s taken away now. We’ll never know what he would have accomplished. It just… we are at a loss right now.”

Family and friends grieving together and stressing the importance of gun safety.

“I just want to open people’s eyes about gun safety,” said Vinson-Turney. “If you’re around guns and you know you got kids in the house, just put them up. Just put the guns up because accidents and stuff can happen.”

While his son was taken from him, he says young “King” will live on in their memory forever.

“I’m just happy everybody hasn’t lost memory of him and still showed up for his birthday and showed love for us,” said Vinson-Turney.

Collins’ aunt shared a video with CBS 58 earlier on Friday, of a phone conversation with the boy’s mother, who is currently in jail.

“I want everybody to know I didn’t do nothing to my baby. I wasn’t there,” his mother, Daquela Collins, said over the phone.

“She wasn’t there, she was at work,” said his aunt, Vannatyie Binion.

Binion said King’s mother is heartbroken. She claims Tuesday’s shooting wasn’t a violent crime, it was an accident.

Three people are in custody connected to the incident, but no charges have been filed.

King is one of more than 135 people shot in Milwaukee in 2025.

Local leaders discussed gun violence Friday afternoon; a national initiative is working to reduce shootings in the city by 15%.

“It’s through collaboration and a shared unwavering dedication to reducing gun violence that we can impact meaningful and long-lasting change,” said Fatimah Loren Dreier, the executive director of Health Alliance for Violence Intervention.

The Coalition to Advance Public Safety awarded $500,000 to five community violence intervention organizations: Milwaukee Christian Center, United Gardens, West Care, Community Task Force, and Asha Family Services.

They said those groups are proven to reduce harm, as gun-related homicides and non-fatal shootings have decreased in Milwaukee over the last two years.

“We know that this work is working, we know it needs to be brought up to scale, it needs to be in the schools, it needs to be in communities,” said David Muhammad, deputy director of the Milwaukee County Department of Health and Human Services. “We can improve the life outcomes for everybody in Milwaukee and make it a safer city.”

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