Kayla Rolland ( May 12 , 1993 – February 29 , 2000 ) was an American 6-year-old girl from Mount Morris Township , Michigan , who was fatally shot on February 29 , 2000 by her classmate Dedrick Owens , also 6-years-old , at Buell Elementary School in the Beecher Community School District . The killing drew worldwide attention due to the particularly young ages of the victim and the perpetrator : Rolland was the youngest school shooting victim in the United States until the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 , and Owens remains the youngest school shooting perpetrator to-date . Owens could not be legally charged with murder because of his age . Buell Elementary School closed in 2002
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting
Shooting of Kayla Rolland