RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Within the span of just 24 hours, four Richmond Public School students were impacted by gunfire. Now, the aunt of a 13-year-old student killed in an accidental shooting is speaking out.
Binford Middle School student Marquan Mitchell was enjoying his Friday night live on social media with his friends and loved ones.
His aunt, Kanya Nash, told 8News that one minute her nephew was laughing and joking around and the next minute she heard talk of a gun and that Marquan had accidentally been shot.
She, along with Richmond Mayor Stoney, has issued an emotional plea against gun violence in our area.
“We have to stop the gun violence,” Nash cried. “Babies are killing babies.”
Police were called to Stockton St. around 10 p.m. where they found the child, just barely a teenager, with a gunshot wound. Marquan died at the scene.
“We have to sit and bury a loved one, because of somebody’s stupidity,” Nash said.
There are still many unanswered questions regarding the incident. Nash is begging the public — anyone with any information — to come forward with answers and to give her and her loved ones closure.
“Where are these babies getting these guns from?” Nash asked. “My nephew did nothing to nobody he didn’t deserve to go through this.”
Family members called Marquan a fun-loving goofball. In an interview with 8News reporter Sierra Krug, Nash smiled remembering how her nephew could make anyone’s day better simply by looking at them.
“Y’all took an angel from us,” Nash said. “Y’all took our heart from us. A wonderful young man that didn’t even get the chance to grow up and be what he wanted to be.”
This morning, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney sent out an emotionally charged statement saying, in part, “We have too many damn guns in our community. Guns are too easily accessible by our children and result in tragedies like what occurred last night.”
Nash’s sons are just around Marquan’s age. They’ve already endured the pain of losing their close friend — their cousin — in the blink of an eye.
“I have two boys that I have to worry about when they go out this door,” Nash said. “Wondering if mine are going to come back home to me from school, or the store, or wherever. Stop this gun violence. It is getting ridiculous with these babies.”
She urges people to lock up their guns, so no one feels her same pain — losing a nephew, a cousin, a son, a goofball — to senseless gunfire.
“I don’t see him as nephew,” Nash reflected when asked about her relationship with Marquan. “I see him as ‘hey son!’ — now all we have left are memories.”
Anyone with any information about what happened last night is urged to contact the Richmond Police Department as they continue their investigation into this tragedy.
