Deputies say a 12-year-old, former Tubman Middle School student shot and killed a man on Fenwick Street in Harrisburg late Wednesday night.

A school spokesperson says he dropped out in January.

Willie Casey, who is 21, is also charged with murder.

The victim's family said they can't believe someone so young took so much from them.

"I ain't handling it too good, you killed my loved one, you killed my best friend, you killed everything inside of me," said Aprile Coleman. She was the victim, Roosevelt Cowins' girlfriend. "You all need to get these drug people in this neighborhood and take them to jail."

Coleman dated Cowins for six months, but they were friends for years.

She said she can't think of any reason anybody would've wanted to hurt him.

"Roosevelt was a sweetheart, he helped whites, blacks, anybody who got sick off the streets," she said. "He was the kind of person you really wanted him to be your friend."

Coleman said his door was always open, and that might have been why he opened his door to the two people who are accused of killing him.

Deputies said it appears he owed one of them money, but they said it was not tied to drugs or gangs.

"That's over 16 years I've been doing this, and that's the first time I've come across anybody, in any case I can remember, where we've charged a 12-year-old," said Deputy Calvin Chew, Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

Coleman said she's seen the accused killers around before and they've caused a lot of trouble in the neighborhood, but she never thought a 12-year-old would be a suspect in her boyfriend's murder.

"He needs to get everything he's gonna get," she said. "Cause he's a bad little boy."

Deputies say it's unlikely the 12-year-old will be charged as an adult. Under Georgia law the cut off age for automatically trying someone as an adult for murder is 13.

The boy is in the Augusta Youth Detention Center. The other suspect is in the Richmond County Detention Center.