MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — What do you tell a middle school student who is more worried about getting shot than passing the next exam?

That was the situation Tuesday for Candyse Anderson, a therapist at Samaritan Counseling Center who provides counseling to Valiant Cross Academy twice a week. One day after 14-year-old Bellingrath Middle School student Ja'Querria Timmons was murdered after school let out, sixth-grade students at Valiant Cross came to Anderson with fears and questions children and teenagers shouldn't have.

"Many of them were emotionally and psychologically affected by the death of...