MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Friends and family gathered in Southwest Memphis on Wednesday night to hold a candlelight vigil for Ja’Kobe Collins.
Police say the 16-year-old was shot and killed around 6 p.m. Sunday while sitting in a car outside a home on Masterson Road. Wednesday’s vigil was held on that very spot.
“This time Sunday my child was sitting in my truck dead,” Ja’Kobe’s mother Michelle said.
She’s beside herself with grief and has been posting memories of her son on social media every day since.
“(He had) a great smile,” Collins said.
Investigators are still trying to figure out who pulled the trigger and why. They say the suspects fled in a black sedan. Neighbors say a young girl jumped out of the car Ja’Kobe was in and ran into the house where the car was parked.
“I have never heard of her,” Collins said. “I have never seen her in my life.”
Collins also said she has no idea who lives in that home or why her son was over there.
“To whoever did it,” Collins said, “I hope you can find it in your heart, your soul, your spirit to turn yourself in. We need justice.”
Several of Ja’Kobe’s classmates and his high school principal attended the vigil. His principal says he was a quiet but brilliant student.