KINGBRIDGE, The Bronx (WABC) — Heartbroken parents had an emotional plea to find their 16-year-old son’s killer, at a vigil on Wednesday night.
The high school football player, Christopher ‘CJ’ Redding, was shot and killed last week.
His father says he was at the wrong place at the wrong time.
“He wasn’t in no gang. My son was a good son. An honest boy. And I want justice for my son,” the victim’s mother Shampagne Christian said.
His mother and father feel society has let them down from the criminal justice system to other parents and everyone in between.
“So a kid could just easily murder, rape, do anything they want. That’s the message y’all are giving out to these kids,” the victim’s father Bryan Corley said.
Redding was a budding Bronx high school football star who lost his life at just 16-years-old.
He tried running from the bullets but died at the hand of an ‘adolescent offender,’ court paperwork said.
“This was an innocent bystander kid that was killed by senseless violence by other young people who are out here doing terrible things,” Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
The suspects recklessly shot at a group on 238th Street near Broadway last Wednesday night and wounded two other teenagers.
Police sources say it happened after a dispute that started at a nearby McDonald’s and escalated to a brawl.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old and charged him with murder.
They are still looking to arrest two others who were involved.
“If you don’t want to come forward and I’m talking to the people that we’re still looking for, okay? Because I already have one under arrest. And we’re looking for others, and you need to know that I’m looking for you, the police are looking for you, the opps are looking for you, and the community is looking for ya,” Clark said.
“Me and him finally had our last one-on-one basketball game,” Corley said.
“It’s never going to be the same for none of us,” Christian said.
They want the system to get tougher on youth violence.
“I feel there should be a new law, a bill passed, that parents be held accountable for crimes like this. Whatever time your child get, you and your child split that,” Corley said.
The Bronx District Attorney urged the community to cooperate with authorities and pass along any tips that can help get the other suspects off the streets.
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