OAKLAND, Calif. (KRON) - A mother's plea for help after losing her son to gun violence on Oakland's deadliest day of 2021.
Demetrius Fleming-Davis was hit by a stray bullet -- A bullet not meant for him.
Police say he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Investigators are still searching for the person responsible for killing the teenager who was so loved by his community.
"I have lost my heart it just hurts that was my baby and he was a good boy had a future," Angela Davis said.
Just two weeks before his 19th birthday, Demetrius Roosevelt Fleming Davis was hit by a stray bullet in Oakland.
"I guess the bullet was already in the air and when they made that U-turn it just bam hit him in the head," Angela said.
Demetrius and his friends were on their way home when they got caught in the middle of the shootout.
Demetrius was in the middle seat, his mom says that's where he always sat.
His two friends in the car were uninjured.
“He just got caught, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. That's what the deputy was telling me," Angela said.
Demetrius was shot and killed near 68th Avenue and International Boulevard on April 10 -- The deadliest day in Oakland so far this year.
Three homicides occurred on this day.
45 total so far in 2021 -- that's about one murder every three days.
Demetrius' pastor, Bishop Bob Jackson, of Acts Full Gospel Church, says these shootings are a disgrace and says if this trend continues, Oakland will end the year with more than 120 homicides.
He says Demetrius was like family to him.
“He wasn’t doing anything he wasn't doing anything to deserve that just him and his friends riding down the street and a bullet a stray bullet and that's what the police told me as well a stray bullet you know that bullet could've been anybody it could've been you and that's just how many shooting is going on in our city,” Jackson said.
The Oakland Police Department and Crime Stoppers of Oakland are offering up to $15,000 in reward money leading to an arrest in this case.
Earlier this month, the Oakland police chief commented on the rise in violent crime.
“That is completely unacceptable and it's tragic for a community to have to deal with this level of trauma and pain,” Chief LeRonne Armstrong said.
Activist Cat Brooks says there's no cookie-cutter answer as to why the city is where they are with violent crime this year.
“We need to be investing on the front end of crisis, on the front end of trauma instead of investing in law enforcement right more. Law enforcement let's be investing in trauma workers in folks that can deal with mental health in economic pathways in education pathways, let’s get to the gun before the bullet flies instead of stand yet to get one more mother and my heart goes out to all the mothers that have lost their children,” Brooks said.
Demetrius was in college and was an intern and a mentor and worked in retail.
His mom says he'll be remembered by those who loved him because of the way he touched their lives.
"We need help out here. Not just afterward. We need to be doing something now. NOW!" Angela said.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3xuF7Sz
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