(WASHINGTON) — The mother of Karon Blake, the 13-year-old boy who was shot and killed on Jan. 7 in Washington, D.C., has spoken out about her son’s death for the first time since the tragic incident.
The Wednesday press conference was located at the offices of The Cochran Firm in Washington, D.C., the firm representing Karon’s mother, Londen Blake. Her attorneys are Brian McDaniel and David Haynes.
This press conference comes just a day after Jason Lewis, the man accused of killing Karon, was charged with second-degree murder while armed. Lewis, 41, appeared in court Tuesday afternoon where he pleaded not guilty to the charge. The case will be revisited on Feb. 13.
“What I can say is that Karon came from a good home and I try my best with him,” Londen Blake said. “But Jason Lewis ain’t have no right. He had no right. … It could’ve went a whole different way.”
Londen Blake said she is satisfied with the charges against Lewis. “I really hope that I get justice for my child, and I really hope this man is convicted to the highest.”
In an interview with ABC News, Karon’s grandfather Sean Long thanked D.C. police for their quick turnaround regarding chargers and hopes more evidence is revealed.
“I’d like to thank everybody. I’d like to thank the 2 or 300 people that came to the meeting a love for the family and showed love to little Karon,” Long said. “I like to thank the chief of police. [I] know people’s on your back and the people on the Mayor’s back. I know yall had to do what yall had to do, but sometimes you gotta just wait it out and let it all fall into place.”
According to the arrest warrant, Lewis called officers claiming that “he shot a juvenile male who ran toward him.”
“Based upon the information that we have recieved and the informatin that has been public, it does not appear that there was any interaction between Karon and Mr. Lewis prior to Mr. Lewis deciding that he was going to discharge his frearm and shoot Karon,” McDaniel said.
Although Lewis’ original statement to police included that he shot at a stolen parked vehicle then Karon and an unidentified person ran toward him after the warning shot. D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee told reporters it appeared Karon was trying to run back to the car and to the other individuals before attempting to drive away prior crashing.
Lewis told police he fired his registered gun twice, but authorities found three casings at the scene. Lewis claimed that Karon yelled “I’m a kid, I’m a kid,” before collapsing, according to the arrest warrant.
While the video footage has not yet been released, according to police, the individuals who were seen with Blake– who are also believed to be teenagers– were seen breaking into cars. The U.S. Attorney’s office will release any evidence to the public at their discretion.
“Kids get into things that the parents are not always aware about… Things happen. We just have to keep our babies close to us,” Londen Blake said.
ABC News’ Teddy Grant, Tesfaye Negussie and Beatrice Peterson contributed to this report.
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