The mother of a 15-year-old boy who was shot in a park in Queens has expressed her outrage towards both the shooter and those who filmed the tragic event.
“You’re all pie,” said Chanel Weston, 33, the mother of Jayden Pierre. She added, “I see. You all beat my son, but it wasn’t enough.”
Jayden was discovered at Roy Wilkins Park in St. Albans with a gunshot wound to the chest around 6:20 p.m. on Thursday, according to the NYPD.
A video of the incident, believed to be gang-related, was shared by former Mayor Eric Adams. It shows a group of youths attacking a young man before a shooter in a gray hoodie pulls out a firearm and fatally shoots Jayden.
“My son was shot in the chest. The family, the community, everyone is devastated,” Weston remarked.
She revealed that her son had asked to go to the park to play basketball that afternoon, but didn’t mention that he was actually going to participate in a water balloon fight that was organized online.
“If I had known about the water balloon fight, I would have said no,” Weston stated. “There he had nothing but problems.”
Weston shared that Jayden was a ninth-grader at Eagle Youth Academy in Queens and was looking forward to starting his first job over the summer.
“That will be his first job,” she said. “He was so excited and proud.”
His sister also criticized bystanders for their inaction during the violent incident, expressing frustration that they treated the situation as mere entertainment. “He had already been beaten. He was helpless, so they shot him,” 17-year-old Nelly Pierre noted.
As of Sunday, the shooter remains at large.
Anyone with tips is encouraged to contact the NYPD Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
