A student of Tubal Trade School, Devon Reynolds, just 14, was gunned down near his home on Kraal Road on Friday night, March 25, 2011 at around 9:30. What makes his death even more painful to the family is that they suspect that his murder comes as retaliation for a murder on Berkeley Street that took place about an hour earlier.
He would be the last of three shootings on Friday night.
Amandala spoke to Devon’s mother, Sharon Cooper, who told us that her sister, who is visiting from the United States, left the house around 8 and hadn’t returned. She said that her mother asked her to get Devon to go out and search for her just before 9 p.m.; she was a little apprehensive about sending him back out, because he had just come in earlier and was preparing for bed.
Cooper told us that she asked him to go look for his aunt, since it was not far down the street that he was supposed to go.
She said that a few minutes later, he returned home (she didn’t know that he had come back home) and his grandmother asked him to go back out and try another place for his aunt.
About 15-20 minutes later, she and her husband was in their bedroom when they heard a barrage of gunshots, about 7 shots.
She said that immediately she had a “bad vibe,” and heard a lot of crying and screaming, after which someone came to the house and told her that Devon had been killed. She said that her family then rushed out to see him.
She said that she saw her beloved son with at least three gunshots in his head. He had been put down like an animal for slaughter, which made her entire family break down in grief at his death.
Cooper said that bystanders told her that they saw a car, either black or grey, circling the area, and after a while, it parked on Kraal Road near the Caesar Ridge intersection. This was around the same time that her son was returning home.
She said that everyone is suspecting that these men were in the area with the intention of trying to hurt someone on this side of the city because of the shooting of Shamir Medina, which ultimately turned out to be fatal. Medina was riding on Plues Street when he was ambushed by assailants and was shot several times. He succumbed to his injuries early Saturday Morning.
Cooper said that two men were seen approaching Devon, who tried to run in the direction of the Wilton Cumberbatch field. The men fired several shots, which hit him in the body and caused him to fall to the ground. One of the assailants then followed up with several shots to the head, for assurance. The men then ran back to the car and escaped.
Cooper says that although her son came from a neighborhood that is known for gang-related violence, Devon was never one who hung out or associated with anyone in gangs. She said that her son was very smart, and he was very kind and friendly to everyone; he was beloved not only to her family, but to many people who have come forward to pay their respects to him.
She said that he was studying “mechanical,” but he enjoyed dee-jaying and would often do it for free. She said that he also worked hard whenever the opportunity presented itself, and that he didn’t spend much time outside at night.
The grieving mother said that his killers didn’t know what they did when they chose Devon as the target. She also told us that she feels partially responsible, because she allowed him to go run the errand, instead of following her instincts.