TOLEDO (WTOL) - A plea from a grieving mother who says her life will never be the same after a gunman shot and killed her son in west Toledo.
She now want’s his killer off the streets
“I never imagined associating my son’s name with being shot and killed,” explained Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Hayes-Foster is still in shock, knowing she will never see her son alive again.
“He was going to be somebody, he had just turned 19 years-old on January 9. He had just started his second semester at UT, he was going for civil engineering," said Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Vajon Foster also had ambitions to tryout of for the University of Toledo Rocket’s football team, after several stand-out years as a Spartan at Toledo’s Start high school. But those plans were cut short last Saturday.
Concerned neighbors on Talbot Street near Upton Avenue flooded emergency dispatch with calls after a gunman opened fire on Foster.
“By the time I got to the scene, they were putting him into the ambulance, about to transport him to the hospital,” said Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Doctors and nurses at Toledo Hospital worked to save his life, operating for two and a half hours.
“They came out and told us, they did all they could do. But he basically bled to death, he didn’t make it.”
Deanna said her son was in the neighborhood, dropping off friends when an altercation broke out between a group of girls. As he tried to break it up, witnesses say a teen with a ski-mask ran out of a house, armed with a gun.
“The boy just pulled out a gun and shot him. For you to come out of this house, with a ski-mask, you had a plan of what you were going to do,” said Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Toledo police have identified the gunman as a 16-year-old, who now has a warrant for his arrest.
“I’m not mad at him, I’m not angry at him. I really feel sorry for him. Because you are 16 years old and you have committed murder at the age of 16,” explained Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Deanna said she forgives her son’s killer, but wont find comfort, until he is behind bars.
“I would really just like for him to turn himself in, so you can face the consciences of what you’ve done, and so that you can get some help , because clearly you need some help," said Deanna Hayes-Foster.
Toledo Police are still working to track down the gunman.
When caught, Deanna said she wants the gunman to spend the rest of his life behind bars so he can think about the hurt he caused and so he won’t be able to harm anyone else.
Vajon Foster leaves behind his mother, father, two brothers and a sister.
If you would like to help the family with funeral arrangement expenses, you can visit Toledo urban federal credit union on Dorr Street in Toledo and donate to the Valjon Foster account.
A wake is scheduled for next Friday at the House of Day Funeral Services in Toledo from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
