Mother of 9-year-old boy fatally shot in East Point pleads for justice

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - It’s an unimaginable reality for one Atlanta mother. Her only son bled to death Saturday night.

“I found my baby laying on his stomach, gasping for air,” said Joy Black, the victim’s mother.

Just minutes before, King Javier Black had been safe with his family.

Joy Black and her 16-year-old daughter, Kurrency Paul, say the family had returned from swimming at a nearby aquatic center when King said he wanted to go outside and play with friends.

Moments later, someone knocked on their front door with the news that her boy had been shot.

“I just went to him [and] I told him, I love you say strong. I need you, stay strong. Mommy’s here,” said Black.

Family members say King was a ray of light, always happy and smiling.

“Just a sweet boy. To know him is to love him honestly, to know him is to love him,” she said.

Black is now desperate to find King’s killer. She says she is fighting for her family and for other families who have suffered at the hands of gun violence.

“I don’t want my son to have to die in vain. I want his name out there. I just want something out there for gun violence against children. We’re losing too many of our kids out here,” Black said.

No arrests have been made in connection to King’s death.

The family has set up an online fundraiser and plans to donate some of the funds to anti-gun violence organizations.

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