Mother of 13-year-old shot while raking leaves pleads for help finding killer

HILLCREST HEIGHTS, Md. - A Prince George's County mother is pleading for help finding the person or people who killed her 13-year-old son.

Jayz Agnew was outside raking leaves Tuesday when he was shot in the head. He died from his injuries late Friday, according to his mother.

Prince George's County police said Sunday they are investigating the case as a homicide. No suspects or motives have been identified.

"We have to combine all of our resources to find out who did this," said Juanita Agnew, Jayz mother.

Agnew said she was at work when she got the call Tuesday. Her quiet street in Hillcrest Heights had become a crime scene after she said multiple shots were fired at her son just before 5:30 p.m. She said Jayz and his dad were outside raking leaves together and her husband had gone inside to start working on dinner.

Jayz was shot in the arm and the head. His 6-year-old sister Aaliyah was also home at the time.

"Every day is hard for her. She's crying a lot," Agnew said. "Saying a lot of things. And she even asked me, ‘Mom, are we going to move?'"

Agnew says her husband heard a car leaving the scene on the 2100 block of Jameson Street, but there are few clues about who did this, why, and whether they were looking for Jayz or someone else.

"I can't think of anybody that would want to hurt him and because of that I'm fearful," she said. "Am I next? Is my daughter next? Is my husband next?

She described her son as playful, funny and calm, and someone who didn't have problems with other students at Benjamin Stoddert Middle School, where he was in eighth grade. Agnew never expected her family would be grieving due to gun violence.

"I just don't want us to get some numb to the fact that every day there's a murder, every day there's a shooting," she said.

Too many mothers share pain she wouldn't wish on anyone..

"This is the worst thing I've ever had to experience," Agnew said. "Laying on the side of the bed with my son with a bullet in his head. It's not something any mother should experience."

There is a $25,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Those wishing to stay anonymous can call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS. You can call Prince George's County detectives at 301-516-2512.

The family has also started a GoFundMe page.