A 15-year-old boy was murdered last night in the Yabra area and tonight another teenager, this one 17 years old is in jail for killing him. This morning 15-year-old Jomo Lamb was to begin a 5 week life skills training program with Youth for Future. But Lamb didn't make it to training because his life was cut short last night. It happened in the Rivero Street area which had already seen two shootings this week. And while last night's shooting wasn't on Rivero Street - it hit way too close to home for one grieving mother. Keith Swift has her story.
Semona Bacab, Mother of Deceased
"I will miss him." [Sobbing.]
This morning Semona Bacab wept for her 15-year-old son, Jomo Lamb, who was gunned down last night near his home in the Yabra area.
Semona Bacab,
"Last night it was like he was sleeping, in a deep sleep, like he wasn't dead because it was like he was still breathing but the blood was coming out through his mouth and his nose." [Sobbing]
Those bloodstains mark the spot where 15-year-old Jomo Lamb was killed last night. Police say around 7 pm he was walking here on Baracat Street. He was returning home from buying at a Chinese grocery shop when he was attacked by a gunman. Eyewitnesses tell 7NEWS that Jomo was walking from the Chinese grocery shop when someone called his name and that's how he ended up on Baracat Street - which is just off of Kraal Road. Semona Bacab says her son was called to his death.
Semona Bacab,
"Someone called him into the side because he had gone to the Chiney. My daughter he had just come home, just finished playing ball, he was sweaty sweaty. He came into the room and asked her for a dollar to go to the Chiney and she gave him it. He told her that they were chasing after him and she asked him where he was going. He said he was going right to the Chiney and he'll come back. He went to the Chiney and five minutes after they came and told my children that someone had just killed Jomo."
Bacab was two streets away when she got the news that her son had been shot.
Semona Bacab,
"He came and told me that someone had shot Jomo and he was dead. I didn't believe and so John Bwoy told me to get into the car and I got into the car and I went to the scene where they shot him. When I reached there, Jomo was already gone. They had already taken him to the hospital because he was still breathing."
15-year-old Jomo's body was riddled with 5 bullets. He had been shot three times in the back and twice in the chest. By the time Semona Bacab arrived at the hospital - her son was dead.
Semona Bacab,
"When I reached at the hospital I waited for about five to ten minutes outside by the emergency ward because they told me I had to wait a while. After that they came and told me Jomo was dead. When I reached there and went inside
to identify the body, it was Jomo. He was laid off there. He got five shots; three in his back and two in chest which punctured his lungs and on his side he had about three scrapes which makes it look like he was struggling on the ground with the young man who he was fighting with. All I can say is that the doctor pronounced him dead when he reached there. He died at the hospital."
Because of the scrapes she observed on her son's body, Semona believes her son wrestled with his killer and fought for his life. But why would someone want to take the life of a 15 year old? Well no one knows for sure yet but as you can see - Jomo Lamb lived on Rivero Street. That's right down the street from the corner of Rivero Street and Kraal Road where three of his friends were shot up on Monday night. One theory is that Jomo Lamb was a witness to Monday's shooting and someone wanted him silenced.
Semona Bacab,
"They said he was an eyewitness but he was home on Monday night. According to what I heard they say it is because he hangs out with them but I always warned Jomo to stop hanging out with those boys."
Keith Swift,
After the incident on Monday night did Jomo tell you he had seen who shot the three young men?
Semona Bacab,
"No he didn't tell me anything. That is why I say that if he knew anything, he could have told me but he didn't tell me anything."
But Bacab isn't sure at this point why her son was killed and neither are police. All this mother knows for sure now is that her son is dead and for her, finding a motive won't make the grieving any easier.
Semona Bacab,
"I don't think they should have killed him that kind of way because Jomo didn't anybody anything in that kind of way to die like that; 5 shots they shot him. Jomo doesn't deserve that. I am not swearing for Jomo but Jomo isn't that type of person. Jomo likes to clown and Jomo is provoking and tantalizing. Everyone knows that Jomo is provoking and tantalizing and that is our happiness in here.
I am already used to when I come home and thing, he is home here and he is somebody who is always, if I am down he makes me feel happy when I come home. He is the one who always, he comes and he clowns you and teases you, 'Miss Semona,' you know from far."
And memories like those - and pictures like the one she held this morning are all Semona Bacab has left of her son whose life was taken way too soon.
