(Memphis) A Memphis mother is demanding answers and she told me she doesn’t believe the ones given to her.
In an exclusive interview with WREG News Channel 3 earlier this week, former Memphis police officer Terrance Shaw explained why he thought he had to shoot and kill 15-year-old Justin Thompson.
Wednesday, Thompson’s mom said Shaw’s story doesn’t add up.
Terrance Shaw says he talked to us because he wants the public to see that he is not a bad person.
He didn’t appear on camera in the interview because he fears retaliation from friends of Justin Thompson.
Justin’s mother, Shirley Thompson, doubts that claim and others made by the former officer during his recorded interview.
“If I’m trying to get this respect back from the public, I would show my face but him he’s still hiding something. He’s still hiding,” said Thompson.
Terrance Shaw shot and killed her 15-year-old son, Justin, after meeting him outside an East Memphis convenience store last September.
Shaw said the youth “needed some assistance and that`s all I was trying to do.”
Despite a sign posted on the store building that says “No Trespassing”, “No Soliciting”, and “No Hanging” outside the store, Shaw says when he met Justin Thompson, Justin was doing just that – hanging outside the store, begging. Shaw says Justin told him he was homeless.
“No, that’s not true, you can look at Justin and tell that Justin is not homeless,” his mother told us.
Shaw said Justin told him he was 18 and they only met four times. He says they shooting happened when Justin tried to rob him.
Shaw, who resigned from his job on the force, now wants his job back because he says he didn’t do anything wrong.
Justin’s mother’s answer: “Yea, he did wrong. He murdered my son. He knows he did it.”
She added, “I pray to God that he just come on out with the truth.”
After hearing investigators found pictures of naked men in Shaw’s cell phone, Ms. Thompson believes the former officer wanted a sexual relationship with her underage son.
“I think he was trying to and my son just wasn’t going for it and I do believe that’s why he killed my son,” said Thompson.
In our exclusive interview with Shaw, he said assumptions like that bother him. He said he never touched Justin inappropriately in any way.