The mother of a North Miami High School football star killed in a shooting is mourning her son as another teen is facing charges in the killing.
"I’m at a loss for words," Sonya Stevenson said Wednesday. "I’m speechless. I’m numb. I’m devastated."
Watch NBC6 free wherever you are
>
WATCH HEREHer son, 17-year-old Mekhi Stevenson, was shot and killed Tuesday afternoon at a home in northeast Miami-Dade.
Miami-Dade Police said Stevenson, his younger brother and four friends were in a room in the home when one of the friends, a 15-year-old, pulled out a gun.
Get local news you need to know to start your day with NBC 6's News Headlines newsletter.
>
SIGN UP
The teen was told to put the gun away but he pointed it at Stevenson and it discharged, hitting Stevenson in the torso, police said. Stevenson died at the scene.
"He was a great kid. He was always smiling. Always joking and always laughing," Sonya Stevenson said. "I want him to be remembered for the bright, free-spirited kid that he was. Confident, humble, respectful."
Local
Stevenson was a junior quarterback at North Miami High, on his way to college, his coach said.
"I try to not envision what took place, him laying on the ground. I don’t want that reflection to keep playing in my mind. I just want him to be remembered for who he is, who he was, a great kid," his mother said. "I don’t get the chance to see what his future would have looked like. He had a bright, bright future ahead of him."
The 15-year-old is facing charges including manslaughter, possession of a firearm by a minor and improper exhibition of a firearm, Miami-Dade Police officials said. He's expected to appear in juvenile court Thursday.
"With the arrest, it’s bittersweet. At the end of the day, it’s sad that two young lives are lost. Mekhi won’t come back and then the other kid, I don’t know what the future holds for him," said Stevenson's brother, Anthon Samuel. "Two families are devastated. And it’s just a senseless crime that did not have to happen."
"It don’t give me comfort. You can’t tell me sorry because sorry don’t bring him back," Sonya Stevenson said. "I want these kids to know, guns are not toys. They’re not toys.” And when you do stuff like this, this is the end result, the devastation. My heart, my son."
