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Mother of Karon Blake breaks silence after son's death
For the first time in three weeks --- since city officials say a D.C. employee shot and killed a teen suspected of breaking into cars --- the mother of 13-year-old Karon Blake broke her silence.
WASHINGTON - The mother of 13-year-old Karon Blake broke her silence Wednesday afternoon.
It's the first time in three weeks — since city officials said a D.C. employee shot and killed her son because he was suspected of breaking into cars.
Family stood beside Londen Blake as she took a long pause inside a conference room at The Cochran Firm’s downtown D.C. office.
The news conference was held one day after D.C. Police arrested and charged longtime Parks and Recreation Department employee 41-year-old Jason Lewis with second-degree murder while armed.
"What I can say is that Karon came from a good home and I tried my best with him, you know? But Jason Lewis, he had no right. He had no right," said the 13-year-old’s mother, "It could’ve went a different way."
Karon Blake
Addressing criticisms from the community, Ms. Blake and her attorney also told reporters she thought he was home that morning and did not know he was in fact out. Her attorney said Blake is not an irresponsible parent.
"Everybody is like, 'what is he doing out a 4 a.m.?’ It’s like, would y'all feel better if it was at 4 p.m.? A crime is a crime. He took my baby. My firstborn. And it’s messed up, but I’ve got to live with that," Ms. Blake said.
The D.C. mother hopes she gets justice for her child. Her attorney remarked on the many people who spoke to the 13-year-old’s character as a loving soul.
Police said Karon Blake and two others were out breaking into cars just before 4 a.m. on the 1000 block of Quincy St. NE. New court documents released explain that a witness saw two people near 41-year-old Jason Lewis’ vehicle.
Lewis told police he shot at a person who ran toward him.
He has since been indicted after turning himself in on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
Lewis's attorney entered a "Not Guilty plea," claiming his client was innocent and acted in self-defense during the arraignment. The judge ordered Lewis held without bond.
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Karon Blake Shooting: Court docs reveal new details
FOX 5's Stephanie Ramirez spoke to a member of D.C.'s go-go community who says he knew the man who allegedly shot and killed 13-year-old Karon Blake. Nico Hobson says he’s known Jason Lewis for a long time and that Lewis is not the type of person to make violent moves.
D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee III revealed on Tuesday that investigators now believe the 41-year-old shot at a getaway vehicle parked in a nearby alleyway first, before shooting at the 13-year-old who reportedly ran toward Lewis.
However, the chief confirmed Blake was not armed and did not enter Lewis’s property.
The police chief also said information regarding Lewis's first shooting at the getaway vehicle was not initially shared with police. That information appears to have been gathered from surveillance video.
Court documents revealed some of Blake’s last words heard were, "I’m a kid."
READ MORE: Community demands answers in death of 13-year-old Karon Blake
The Cochran Firm’s Brian McDaniel, representing the Blake family, told reporters the court documents released, "support the contention that Mr. Lewis wasn’t responding to any threat. Mr. Lewis was in fact probably angry that there were individuals in and around his vehicle, and decided to respond in a fashion which was irresponsible."
"There are a lot of things going on in our community right now, and what we cannot abide are individuals deciding to take the law into their own hands," McDaniel added.
FOX 5 asked Londen Blake about her son’s previous reported interaction with the court system and what message she has for youth.
"Like I said before, kids get into things that the parents are not always aware about," she responded. "We’re in 2023 now. Things happen. We’ve just got to keep our babies close to us. That’s it. Children make their own decisions. As adults, we do too, you know? Like, you can talk until you’re blue in the face to your child, but if they – if their mind is set on what they want do, then that’s what they want to do. All we have to do as parents is really be parents and try our best – that’s it."
"We can’t … We’re not going to be there. We have jobs. We have other children, we’re not going to be there at every single time, or at every single – like everything, at every single moment, you know? And my son, he was a young man. I count on him. You hear me. He helped me in my household. I don’t live with a man, I live with me and my four children. He was the man of the house. That’s who helped me. And [Jason Lewis] he took him from me," Blake continued, before walking out of the law firm’s conference room, too emotional to continue.
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Karon Blake Shooting: DC gov employee turns himself in to police related to charges in killing
Jason Lewis, the D.C. government employee officials say is responsible for shooting and killing 13-year-old Karon Blake earlier this month, has turned himself into police related to charges in the killing.
McDaniel spoke after, saying so much of this has been focused on Karon and not what the adult did in this shooting situation.
"When I got the call, I was like, ‘No, not him! Of all people, not him!" said Nico Hobson, GoGoRadio.TV’s owner.
Hobson told FOX 5 the entire Go-Go community is in shock. He said Jason Lewis was a co-host on one of the station’s most popular shows and that in the many years he’s known Lewis, Hobson described the 41-year-old as someone who was not known to act violently.
"We always talked about how we could, you know, work with the youth and try to get them out of the mess that’s going on around them," Hobson said. That was the shocking part about it, you know, what happened with the 13-year-old. But that also raised that many more questions for me because I know that he wasn’t of that [ill] to be going out and trying to make moves – you know, violent moves like that. That wasn’t in his nature."
RELATED: Shooting of 13-year-old Karon Blake not 'centered around race'
Hobson said he feels Lewis is being mischaracterized. He also expressed his sympathies to the Blake family on behalf of the Go-Go community.
Jason Lewis, 41
"[He] had his own lawn service company," Hobson said. "He would go out and make sure he would make sure people were taken care of – people, you know, stuck in the snow. He would help them out with that. He was just a giving person."
McDaniel did not directly answer whether his office plans to file a civil suit, saying right now the family is focused on the criminal investigation.
Ms. Blake said she was surprised it took this long for an arrest.
The Mayor’s Office confirmed as of Tuesday, Lewis’s status has now changed from "administrative leave" to "enforced leave," where he must now use his personal time off as officials work out the next steps. It’s not clear how much personal time the city employee has.
Jason Lewis is due back in court on Feb. 13.