Shaquille Jones wasn’t a kid who was expected to die at such an early age. He wasn’t even involved in the situation that got him killed.
Being in the wrong place at the wrong time can often lead to a death sentence for young black men in America. Jones, who lives in Brooklyn, ran into a group of other teenagers who were armed and seeking to settle a fight they’d had with some other young men.
Jones and his friends argued with the armed men, but were not involved in the fight that had the men so upset in the first place. Police are now looking for four suspects responsible for the homicide.
One of the kids punched Jones and shot him in the face right outside of South Shore High School, where he was a basketball player.
“My child died right here,” said Jones’ mother.
Renee Straker called her cousin “a darling.”
“He did not deserve to die the way he did, the time he did,” said Renee Straker, his cousin. “He was very loving. He would kiss his grandmother before bed.”
