NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A New Orleans mother is pleading for answers as she grieves the loss of her teenage son.
Fifteen-year-old Malik Duckett was murdered about a week ago in the Gentilly Terrace neighborhood.
It’s been a week since Patricia Duckett received the worst phone call of her life. It was about her son Malik, who she says was hanging out with close friends of the family the night of June 16.
“The girl Lily called me and said, ‘Come around here. Malik is around the corner shot,’ which was back at the house on Franklin [Avenue], but it happened around the corner,” Patricia explained. “So, I get there, and I just the see the back window of the car shot out, and Malik’s just in there, trying to survive.”
New Orleans police say Malik was rushed to the hospital around midnight from Elder Street, near its intersection with Franklin Avenue. The teenager later succumbed to his injuries.
Malik’s mother fears he may have been targeted but says she hasn’t received any details from her friends who may have seen him last.
“[My friend] didn’t called me after it happened or whatever because I think her son was in the car,” Patricia said. “I don’t know if she’s trying to cover up something for him or whatever, but she doesn’t talk to me, like didn’t even call to say, ‘Well, I’m sorry this happened to Malik,’ but Malik is always at your house. You’ve been knowing me forever.”
So far, no arrests have been made, but she’s urging witnesses to come forward.
“If you know something, just say something because he’s a kid,” Patricia said. “He didn’t deserve to die. Nobody deserves to be murdered, and if you were in that car, just say what went on in the car.”
Amid the tragedy, Patricia says it’s time for change.
“This can’t keep happening to our kids. We can’t keep losing them to gun violence, like it’s ridiculous,” Patricia said. “I know we gotta be better as parents, community, you know, it’s like we’re not here for the kids and the community anymore. We gotta do better.”
If you would like to help the Duckett family with funeral expenses, click here.
If you have any information about this crime, call NOPD homicide detectives at (504)-658-5300. Those wishing to report information anonymously can call Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at (504)-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.
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