A 25-year-old man in Georgia, Demario Wilson, was fatally shot by his “close friend” De’Ja Pierre-Ames last week after an argument over $5, according to the College Park Police Department.
According to a statement by the police, the deceased and Pierre-Ames got into a verbal altercation while at 2301 Godby Road in College Park and things escalated, People reports.
“Detectives have determined a verbal altercation over $5 took place prior to the shooting between the decedent and his close friend, De’Ja Pierre-Ames,” the statement said.
Pierre-Ames, 21, turned herself in to authorities two days after the shooting. She has been charged with murder. Speaking to WSB-TV 2, the deceased’s mother, Monica Wilson, called for an end to gun violence.
“This is very senseless. And I would have never thought in my wildest dreams it would happen to me next,” she said. She also appealed to men to take up the task of mentoring the younger generation to help keep them on the right path.
“It’s gonna take more men to be involved with the young generation. I’m not supposed to bury my kids. No one should bury their child,” she said, adding that violence isn’t the best resort to resolving misunderstandings and the youth need to understand that and learn how to amicably settle disputes.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help raise funds to cover Wilson’s funeral and memorial. The account, which says Wilson’s family is “overwhelmed with grief”, described him as someone who was “loved by many and a beautiful light to everyone he came in contact with.”
College Park Police Chief Ferman Williford also called the shooting senseless. “We have one life lost and another life now ruined and shattered,” Williford told WSB-TV 2.