Police say teen couple lured Henry County 14-year-old, paralyzing him during armed robbery

A Henry County couple who police say set up, robbed and shot a 14-year-old boy, leaving him paralyzed, have been arrested.

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Kayden Sims was robbed and shot on Christmas Eve in Jackson, Georgia. The shooting left him paralyzed from the chest down.

Police said 16-year-old Xyasia Blackstock lured Kaden to an apartment complex where 19-year-old Demontae Hill shot him and took his cellphone and took the keys to a white van Kayden was a passenger in. Police said the teens were a couple and that they plotted the robbery, first befriending Kaden on social media.

Blackstock and Hill were both arrested in Macon and face numerous felony charges.

Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Ashli Lincoln spoke to Kaden’s mother, Pamela Sims, who said the crime was the ultimate act of betrayal. Sims said Kayden left their home to visit who he thought was a friend on his Christmas break.

“He told me, like, ‘I would have never thought she would do this,’” Sims said. “These two people that have done this to my child, it is not worth it. You just took off with a cell phone.”

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Sims said her son is doing well mentally and emotionally, but physically he’s having a hard time.

“I’m saying this situation has left my family devastated,” Sims said. “If I could just turn back, then go back to that day, and if I knew this was going to happen, I wouldn’t have let Kaden leave.”

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Sims said she felt like bringing her son’s story to the attention of Channel 2 Action News helped speed up the investigation and the suspects’ arrests.

“Chills went all over my body. Like, this is the moment I’ve been waiting for, and I just feel like contacting you guys helped me a whole lot,” Sims said.

The case marks a growing and troubling statistic of increased gun violence among teens.