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‘Mommy, I Don’t Want To Die’: Special Needs Boy Final Words To Mom After Being Shot By Gang Member Over A Pair Of Shoes

By Angelica N. Sumter
Published on: 18:50 PST, Jun 3, 2015

“Mommy, I don’t want to die” were the chilling last words of a young teen – who was mentally challenged – that was shot multiple times in front of his mother because he didn’t want to give up his shoes.

According to Daily Mail, 19-year-old special needs boy, Tavin Terrel Price, was with his mother, Jennifer Rivers, at a car wash Friday morning in the Hyde Park area of South Los Angeles, California when he was approached by a gang member.

“He was confronted by someone who inquired about his possible gang affiliation because of some red clothing he was wearing,” Detective Eric Crosson stated who is with the Los Angeles Police Department. “He denied being a gang member and went back to where his mother was.”

The man told Price to take off his red shoes, and in lieu of doing so, he ran to his mother. Rivers then told her son to get in the car so that they can leave. But as Price was walking to the passenger side, the gang member ran behind him and shot him twice in the back and once in his chest, according to Fox 13 Now.

He then fled the scene, leaving Price behind to die. Rivers stated that she ran after the suspect when she heard the gunshots, but had no luck in catching him.

“I just kept saying, ‘Stop. Why did you shoot my son?'”

Police officials as well as family members have reported that Price was not affiliated with any gangs.

Once she returned to her son’s side, Price repeatedly told his mother that he didn’t want to die and was asking her for help.

“Watching my son beg me, ‘Mommy, I don’t want to die. I do not want to die, mommy. Help me,'” Rivers said to KTLA as fought back tears. “That’s hard for me.”

Once paramedics arrived at the scene, they rushed him to a nearby hospital where he later died.

Friends and family gathered around the car wash where the teen was shot and killed, bringing flowers and balloons.

He would have been 20-years-old on Monday.

Several family members spoke with reporters and said that they wanted to see the suspect “spend the rest of their life in jail” and feel how their “family feels right about now.”

Price’s family have set up a Go Fund Me page to help with his burial.

Sources say the gunman was captured on surveillance footage, but police officials refuse to release any images to the public at this time.

[Image courtesy of Chip Somodellivia/Getty Images]

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