The 3-year-old’s killing on Easter morning has left relatives mourning and police pursuing charges against two adults.
ATLANTA, Ga. — The death of 3-year-old Armani Lyons in a southwest Atlanta apartment has become both a homicide case and a family’s public plea for answers after the boy was shot early Easter morning while his mother was at work.
In the days after the shooting, Armani’s relatives described a child who loved monster trucks and Spider-Man and said they were still struggling to understand how a night of routine babysitting turned into a funeral. Police later announced murder-related charges against two adults, but many of the basic facts surrounding the shooting have not been publicly explained.
Authorities say officers were called shortly after 12:30 a.m. on April 5 to the 900 block of Washington Street SW. Armani had been shot in the head and was taken to Grady, where he died. The Fulton County Medical Examiner later identified him. In the first public statements on the case, Atlanta police said the boy had been left with a 70-year-old babysitter while his parent went to work. Assistant Chief Carven Tyus told reporters the babysitter was the only identified witness at that point and said investigators believed there may have been other people inside the apartment. Even then, police said the investigation was moving and that key details were still unknown.
For Armani’s mother, Dinisha Lyons, the uncertainty quickly became part of the pain. She told local television that she dropped her son off with a longtime babysitter before heading to her airport job late Saturday and then received a call from police telling her to come to the hospital. She said the family still had few concrete answers beyond the fact that her son had been shot. Armani’s grandmother, Trinetta Julian, publicly called on the city to find surveillance footage and identify whoever was responsible. Their comments gave the case a deeply personal dimension, showing a family trying to make sense of a death that investigators had not yet fully described in public.
Neighbors also helped shape the early picture of what happened that night. One witness told local media she saw an Atlanta police officer carrying the child from the apartment. Another neighbor said the shooting left residents frightened and questioning whether the area was safe. By the time daylight came, crime scene tape stretched across the apartment entrance and the building had become the center of a homicide investigation. Yet even with police at the scene and family members demanding answers, authorities had not publicly said whether the weapon was fired by someone inside the home, whether the gun was handled by the child or whether gunfire may have come from outside.
The case shifted sharply on April 11, when police said homicide investigators had established probable cause to arrest 71-year-old Barbara Edwards and 35-year-old Jermaine Hardeman. Authorities said both faced felony murder, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and second-degree cruelty to children. Police also said Lyons’ mother confirmed Edwards was babysitting Armani when he was killed. Still, the later charging announcement left major questions unresolved. Investigators did not publicly explain Hardeman’s relationship to the child, did not release a step-by-step account of the shooting and did not describe exactly what evidence led them to file the charges.
Outside the legal case, the family’s mourning continued in public view. Loved ones organized a candlelight vigil at 949 Washington Street SW and prepared for Armani’s funeral on April 11. Family members said they had trusted the babysitter for years and had never had reason to fear for the child’s safety. The image they offered was of a playful little boy known for his energy and affection, not just a name in a police report. That contrast between Armani’s everyday life and the violence of his death has remained central to the way the story has unfolded across Atlanta.
As of the latest public reports, the family had answers in part but not in full: investigators named suspects and filed serious charges, yet the public record still did not explain every moment that led to the shooting. The next turning point is likely to come with arrests, court appearances or the release of additional investigative details.
Author note: Last updated April 15, 2026.