Mom calls for stricter gun laws after teen killed in water gun fight in Starlight Park
Darrell Harris, 17, was shot in the head and arm on Tuesday night inside Starlight Park.
More Stories
A Bronx mother is calling for stricter gun laws after her son was shot and killed after a water gun fight quickly turned violent in Starlight Park.
"He said, 'Mom, can I go out?' I said, 'Where are you going?' He said, 'I am going to a water gun fight,'" said Kellie Lewis, the victim's mother.
Darrell Harris, 17, was shot in the head and arm on Tuesday night inside Starlight Park.
"About 8 p.m., I called his phone, and I said, 'What time are you coming home?' He said, 'I'll be there by 9.' I said, 'Not a minute later.' He said, 'I'll be there by 9, mom,'" said Lewis.
Minutes after their last phone call, Harris was killed.
Police say he was repeatedly squirted with a water gun and asked the suspect to stop spraying him when real bullets were fired.
"A young lady called back from my son's phone, and she said, 'Are you the mom of the person of this phone?' I said, 'Yes, What's going on? She said, 'He got shot, he's laying on the floor,'" said Lewis.
Lewis raced to the scene to find her son. She says the call was a familiar one, as she lost her eldest son to gun violence in 2021.
"We need stricter gun rules. A child's first impulse shouldn't be to shoot someone...these kids get weapons like they're going to by a bag of chips," said Lewis, "I have other children that I have to make sure they are OK, and the impact that this is going to have on them, I have to be strong to get my son properly buried."
Harris was a rising senior at the Bronx Leadership Academy and the youngest of three older brothers. Lewis says he was a homebody who preferred to stay home and play video games then be outside.
"My son was no gangbanger; he was no troublemaker. He barely came outside. He was barely into anything for anyone to have a reason to hurt him," said Lewis.
Lewis is searching for justice so that no other family will have to experience her pain while police search for her son's killer.
"He should turn himself in, and he should suffer the consequences for what he did because he took someone's life and destroyed a family and he should not get away for what he did," said Lewis.
