BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)- This weekend marks one year since 22 year old James Mitchell was killed walking to a store on the East Side. His mother is still looking for answers about who shot her son.
Saprina Wilkins told News 4 her son was enrolled at Bryant and Stratton College, seeking a career in criminal justice, when he died.
“He was full of life and ambition, and love and forgiveness, and just joy, he was always smiling,” said Wilkins. “He really wanted a bright future and I believe he could’ve had that future had it not been for March 5, 2016 when someone just came and snuffed his life out like that.”
She said her son was hanging out with friends when he decided to go to the Langfield Market on the 300 block of Weston Avenue.
According to police, that’s where Mitchell was shot around 11 p.m. that night.
“Some guys pulled up in a car and started shooting,” Wilkins said. “Before James passed away, when he went into the store and his last words were, ‘Tell my family I love them’.”
She feels her son was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
On Sunday, their family will remember the one year anniversary of the shooting.
“I will be dealing with this for the rest of my life,” said Wilkins. “Things like this just don’t go away, you just can’t sweep it under the rug and I wouldn’t want another parent to go through what I went through.”
She reached out to News 4 to spread that message. Wilkins asks anyone with information to come forward, even if that means sending her a Facebook message or anonymous letter.
“If that person is off the streets that did this, or those people, whoever was involved in this, then that’s one less crime you have to worry about, that’s one less person you have to worry about out on the streets that are killing our young kids,” said Wilkins.
She hopes others will have the courage to report what they saw, as she tries to find closure.
Crimestoppers and Buffalo Police offered a $2,500 reward for information leading to an arrest or indictment.
Buffalo Police told News 4 on Wednesday that they are making headway in the case.
