Family spends Mother's Day mourning death of Houston teen

HOUSTON - Family and friends gathered for a vigil on Mother's Day to remember 18-year-old Atiba Jeffrey.

“I want my child to come home,” said the teen’s mother Christine Farrell. “I miss my child.”

Jeffrey was shot and killed on May 4th at a bus stop along Polk Street near South Wayside Drive. Family members say the teenager was shot several times and left to die.

“Atiba was a good boy,” said Farrell. “Why would you hurt my kid. Tell me why did you have to hurt my child, treated him like a dog like he was nobody.”

Police found Jeffrey unconscious that Monday night. Family and friends say he was taken to a hospital and later died.

“It’s her first Mother’s Day without her son in 18 years,” said activist Quanell X. “That’s a shame. This mother deserves better than that.”

Family members describe Jeffrey as an honor student at Austin High School.

“He wanted to go to the Marines,” said Farrell. “He [also] wanted to do his own business.”

“I have nothing negative to say about him,” said Eran Ri’chard a neighbor. “Only good things.”

So far no arrests have been made. According to Quanell X, police have surveillance footage from the shooting that they’re reviewing.

“To those gentlemen that did this, if there’s any inch of God left in you, turn yourself in because you killed the wrong kid,” said Quanell X.

A memorial is setup for the 18-year-old at the bus stop along Polk Street. If you have any information about this case you’re urged to call police.

“Why did you have to do this to my son?” said Farrell.