‘It’s a bad dream’: Louisville mother mourns shooting death of 16-year-old son
By Gladys Bautista
Click here for updates on this story
LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (WLKY) — A Louisville family is in mourning after a 16-year-old boy was found shot to death over the weekend, just the latest incident in gun violence plaguing the metro.
Relatives identified the victim as James Roberts.
Louisville Metro police said the shooting was reported before 11 a.m. Saturday on Clarion Court in the St. Dennis neighborhood. Behind bars is Bryan James Bruce III, whom police said was caught on surveillance video driving up to the teen and shooting him.
Roberts’s mother, Melissa Barnes, spoke to WLKY’s Gladys Bautista about the deadly shooting, adding that it all still feels “like it’s a bad dream.”
“Every time I hear my phone go off, I think it’s him,” Barnes said. “Disbelief. It’s not real.”
Barnes said her son, whom she called Jimmy, was with friends before the shooting. Police said the 16-year-old was shot multiple times.
“He had a bright future and I’m sad I won’t get to see him grow older,” Barnes said. “I’m just heartbroken. I just don’t know why somebody would do this to a 16 year old. It don’t make sense to me. I hope he rots in hell.”
The police department nor the coroner’s office have released additional details about the shooting since Saturday.
Bruce is being held on a $250,000 bond and has been charged with murder. The circumstances surrounding the shooting are still unknown.
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
