Stepfather of 10-year-old boy killed by stray bullet: ‘If I don’t be strong I’m just gonna fall apart’
The 10-year-old boy who was shot and killed in Portsmouth on Friday was the victim of a stray bullet that was fired during a “dispute,” according to police.
An unknown number of teenaged girls were involved in an argument that escalated into a shooting. The bullet traveled through the boy’s window, a Portsmouth police spokesperson said in an email.
The boy’s name was Keontre, or Tre, according to his step father, Arvis Scott. Scott said Tre was in his room upstairs at the time of the shooting. Scott was at work when his daughter called him to tell him what had happened and he heard other family members screaming on the phone.
Scott said Keontre was like his “protege,” helping take care of his mother and stepping up to do things like learning how to mow the lawn. They both shared a love for action movies and gangster movies, and even had the same favorite color: red.
Last month, Scott bought lawn care equipment he intended to use on a father-son business this summer with Keontre, who had already gotten a few lawns under his belt.
“Every day with him is fun, every moment with him is fun … not a dull moment,” Scott said in an interview at the family’s home.
Scott, a father of five, said the kids have been stronger than the adults. He last saw Keontre before he left for work on Friday, and Scott is grateful that he’s made a habit of telling his kids he loved them before leaving.
“If I don’t be strong I’m just gonna fall apart, everybody’s mind gone be weak so with my strong mind I can keep everybody afloat,” he said. “We get calls all the time of people dying … We’re sad all the time, but this right here is something you can’t come back from. It’s like the pain is already there but now it’s like I’m all the way broken.”
Police charged 31-year-old Shawnday Ross with contributing to the delinquency of a minor in connection to the shooting, and another individual has been named as a person of interest.
.
Police responded to the 30 block of Farragut Street at 6:13 p.m. Friday. Officers found the boy with a gunshot wound, and he died at a hospital.
Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins said in a statement that he’d met with the boy’s family and they were “distraught.”
“As the top officer of the Portsmouth Police Department, I am outraged over another young life taken over neighborhood disputes,” Jenkins said.
Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
