It’s been just over a month since the shooting death of 16-year-old Ja’Shawn Poirier at Lamar High School in Arlington. Just days away from what would’ve been his 17th birthday, his mother spoke with NBC 5 about life since his tragic death.
Rashone Jacob moved to North Texas recently for a change; a new beginning for her family.
“We literally just moved down here, we’re only eight months in,” said Jacob. “Moved from Pontiac, Michigan.”
Things were going well. Jacob and her children were getting settled. Then she received a phone call from a family member on the morning of March 20.
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“She said my son has been shot,” she said. “All could do was scream, cry.”
Arlington police say 16-year-old Ja’Shawn Poirier was sitting on the steps at Lamar High School in Arlington before the start of class. Another student walked up, pulled out a shotgun and started shooting.
The 15-year-old suspect was detained and taken into custody. Poirier was rushed to the hospital where his mother waited until a surgeon came out with the devastating news that her son had died.
“Before she could even finish the sentence I just broke down,” Jacob said.
Jacob said the past month has been a daze. She stands in Ja’Shawn’s bedroom and still can’t believe he’s gone.
“[I] Buried my son, seen him in the dirt, closed his casket, go into his room, I still can’t wrap my mind around it,” she said.
Now that her son has been laid to rest, she wants justice. Police have not shared a motive for the shooting, but Jacob said, concerning her son, there isn’t one.
“He was murdered at Lamar High School,” she said. “My son wasn’t targeted. It wasn’t over a girl or anything. It was just a random shooting.”
She says Ja’Shawn had a love for sports and video games. This Friday will mark what would have been his 17th birthday. Jacob said this loss is the worst pain she’s ever felt.
In her living room, Jacob clutched pictures of Poirier as a baby. She had a message for him.
“I am so so so sorry that this happened to you,” she said. “I still got your back and I’m going to fight to the end until justice is served.”
The juvenile suspect has not been named due to his age. He appeared at a detention hearing Friday where a judge decided he should remain in custody.
If convicted of capital murder, a juvenile can be sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison.
A juvenile girl who was near Poirier at the time of the shooting was grazed by the shot or flying debris. She was treated and released from the hospital that day.
