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Funeral plans, balloon release set for 11-year-old killed in Paulding County shooting

By FOX 5 Atlanta Digital Team
Published  May 10, 2024 5:55am EDT
Paulding County
FOX 5 Atlanta
article

Zander Whatley (Photo submitted by family)

PAULDING COUNTY, Ga. - Loved ones in Paulding County plan to honor the life of an 11-year-old boy who was killed in a shooting at his home in April.

On Friday, the family will hold a balloon release ahead of Saturday's funeral in honor of what would have been Zander Whatley's 12th birthday.

The balloon release will take place at 6 p.m. at Rockmart High School following the first day of the public viewing at the school's gymnasium. Whatley's celebration of life service will be at the gymnasium on Saturday at 2 p.m.

On the night of April 29, Shareeda Alexander Dorsey, her husband, and nine of their 13 children were in their home at the Smallwood Farms subdivision when they heard banging on their backdoor and then the sound of shooting.

"We heard gunshots. I told my kids to get down, and I just started calling 911," said Alexander-Dorsey.

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An 11-year-old boy was shot and killed in his Paulding County home.

She said Whatley was running to get upstairs when one of the bullets came through the wall and hit him on his side.

Medics rushed the boy to a local hospital. Sadly, he was not able to survive his injuries.

Possible motive for Zander Whatley's murder

11-year-old boy shot, killed in his own home

A Paulding County boy was shot and killed during an attack on the 11-year-old boy's home. The reason the family believes it happened.

Whatley's killer remains on the run.

The family believes whoever fired the shots may have some connection to one of the boy's older siblings.

"He's friends with two of the guys. The guy who came and shot the house. He was mad because our son is friends with the other guy, he was mad at," said William Dorsey, Whatley's stepfather.

The family said Whaley, a fifth-grader at Hutchens Elementary School, loved going to class and loved to sing. 

"Zander was a happy kid … He loved the Lord. He was a great kid," Dorsey said.

The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office and Georgia Bureau of Investigation are asking anyone with information about the shooting to anonymously share the details via the Paulding Sheriff’s Office tip line at 770-443-3047 or via the Paulding Sheriff’s Office mobile app.

FOX 5's Denise Dillon contributed to this report.