Former basketball star Shaquille O’Neal will cover the funeral expenses for Malachi Hemphill, the 13-year-old Georgia teen who accidentally shot himself on Instagram Live.
NBC 11 reports that O’Neal first called and then came by the home of Malachi’s family in Atlanta a day after the teen died from an accidental gunshot wound.
“We just broke down and started crying because Malachi didn’t have any insurance,” his godmother, Shantirea Bankston, said. “We wasn’t prepared to bury him this young. We didn’t have insurance for him. So to have that from Shaquille O’Neal, it was a blessing and very touching, and we appreciate everything he do[es] for the community.”
O’Neal, who lives in the metro-Atlanta area, said in a statement: “No mother should have to go through this. I can only imagine the pain that she and all of Malachi’s family must be feeling. I just wanted to do what I could to help them at such a terrible time.”
The 13-year-old died Wednesday at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital from his gunshot wound. He had been handling a gun in an Instagram Live video when it accidentally went off.
Read more at 11Alive.