GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — Four people were in court Monday, charged in connection with a shooting death of a teenager on March 12 near Bessemer City.
Family members of 16-year-old Kaleb Haskins also were in court to face the accused.
[PAST COVERAGE: Police: Teen killed, another hurt in shooting in Bessemer City; 4 in custody]
Ashley Killian-Black said her son, Haskins, was in the wrong place at the wrong time when police said he was shot and killed at a friend’s house. Another teen was hurt after being shot.
She had a shirt with the word “Justice for Kaleb” in bold letters and a picture of her son.
“I just want everybody to see his face, including the people who are responsible for this,” Killian-Black said.
Police said on March 12, they responded to a home on Dameron Road and found two teens who had been shot. Haskins died and the other teen was hospitalized.
Killian-Black went to court Monday to face the four people accused of killing her son. Justin Pebbles was a suspect in court and hoped to get out on bond.
She had little sympathy for an 18-year-old suspect who said he never fired a shot.
“I want there to be some justice,” Killian-Black said. “I don’t want these guys to see the light of day.”
Killian-Black said her son was spending the night at the friend’s house.
“They would swim,” she said. “All his friends would come over there.”
The district attorney said Haskin’s friend, 17-year-old Justin Williams, planned to have a group of young men meet him at his home to trade marijuana for a gun.
The DA said the group planned to rob Williams instead.
The mother said her son didn’t know about the transaction.
“He tried to run,” Killian-Black said. “He tried to get away. These people are heartless. They didn’t care.”
Police said they caught the suspects the same day.
Three suspects were 18, including Haskins.
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The others who are accused are 18 years old: The confessed driver, Wesley McCullough and Shane Greely.
Leshantez McDowell is 24.
“It makes me angry because (my son) was still a child,” Killian-Black said.
Peebles was given a bond of $1.5 million, but his family said they believe he is innocent.
The DA said he hasn’t decided if he will seek the death penalty for him, and the other three suspects, who are being held without bond.
(Watch the video below: Police: Teen killed, another hurt in shooting in Bessemer City; 4 in custody)
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