The mother of a Thursday morning shooting victim held a press conference hours after police identified her 16-year-old son.
Tiera Ervin lived close enough to the bus stop where the shooting took place to hear the shots that killed her son Temario Stokes Jr. and was the first on the scene. The involved gunman reportedly ran into the cornfields west of U.S. 31 and remains at large, but Ervin did not see the suspect at the time, delivering a message to the gunman Thursday.
“You didn’t have to do my baby like that,” Ervin said. “You took my heart right out my chest. I hope you find peace within yourself.”
INDIANA SCHOOLS ON LOCKDOWN FOLLOWING FATAL SHOOTING AT BUS STOP
“He was at his bus stop heading to school when it happened,” Ervin said. “When I heard the shots, I ran outside and saw my son lying on the ground, shot multiple times.”
Stokes was on his way to school as a sophomore at Whiteland Community High School when he was shot and killed. Ervin said he would often come straight home from school.
“He wasn’t a bad kid,” his father, Temario Stokes Sr., said of his son. “All kids make bad decisions at one time, but he wasn’t a bad kid. He doesn’t deserve this.”
Police reported the shooting appeared to be a targeted attack. The investigation is still open, with Indiana State Police utilizing a helicopter and drones to try and locate the suspect, who was last seen wearing a black hoodie.
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Stokes was the oldest of three children.
