PETERSBURG, Va. β A Petersburg mother is remembering her 14-year-old son as a promising football player and honor roll student after he was shot and killed Friday evening at an apartment complex.
Ja'Quavyz "Quavo" Howell was a freshman at Petersburg High School who dreamed of playing professional football. His mother, Mesha Reed, said he believed the sport could take him and his family places they had never been before.
Howell played both offensive and defensive lineman. Just weeks before his death, he told me about his aspirations when we met at a Petersburg convenience store. He talked about being seen, being great, and making it.
"He said, 'Momma, I just met the news man,'" Reed recalled.
The teenager was shot multiple times in the chest Friday around 5 p.m. at an apartment complex on Lieutenants Run Drive off Johnson Road. He was pronounced dead at the hospital, though his parents believe he died at the scene.
"The ambulance left with no sirens. I knew right then," Reed said. "The doctor came in and ... they asked who was the mom. My friend was in there, and she was like, 'The mom's right here.' And he just looked, and he was like, 'I'm sorry. We couldn't save him. He had too many bullets in his chest.'"
Reed said the shock and grief were unbearable.
Petersburg police arrested another teenager late Friday night in connection with Howell's death. Crime Insider sources said the victim and suspect were students who knew each other.
Reed remembers her son as someone who impacted everyone he met.
"My baby never met a person that he couldn't put an impact on," Reed said. "He has his ways, all kids got their ways, but he was mannerable, he was an honor roll student. My baby was going somewhere."
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses.
The investigation remains ongoing.
If you have any information that can help detectives, call their anonymous tipline at 804-861-1212. You can also text a tip with the P3 App.
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