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Police: Teen's Death Gang-Related
Lamonte Stone or "Coco" shot to death at age 14.
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Lamonte Stone, known as "Coco" to family and friends, was shot in the chest, apparently caught in the crossfire. The incident happened on the 500 block of Madison Street late Friday night.
Quayshaun Woods faces a weapon charge in connection with Coco's death and police expect to file more serious charges against him soon.
Stone's family is certain he was not part of a gang. Police don't believe he was an intended target, but that's no consolation to his family.
CoCo’s mother Jeaniqua Jackson said, "We would record him and all the kids and they would just dance.”
"You couldn't do nothing but look at him and laugh. Just look at him and laugh," CoCo’s grandmother Jean Jackson said.
A dance move CoCo Stone had mastered is called "the Jerk" and it is one that brought laughter to his home, lightness to this family's feet.
"He was grinning all the time. He reminded me of Popeye in a way because he was always flexing his muscles," Jean said.
Stone's family says he drew friends like a magnet- a loyal, respectful kid, with a saucy style and endless heart.
CoCo’s cousin Ativia Graves said, "He just a nice person to be around and he just keep us laughing all the time."
"Just him being in the room, changed the atmosphere Cocoa was a loving person and he loved life," Jean said.
A life, that's over. Because when Stone saw a gun at the home on Madison Street on Friday night, witnesses say he ran outside to find his younger siblings, which is a decision with a heavy cost.
"He ran upstairs, jumped outside, he got hit, then he got hit again," CoCo’s brother Eliyah Motley said.
That shot killed CoCo Stone and came as a blow to his family.
"He wasn't a child that was in gangs or participated in things like that," Jeaniqua said.
"CoCo, he loved life...period," Jean said.
And seeing that taken away, this family says that hurts, but they won't let guns take his spirit, or end his dance.
"He knows he was loved," Jeaniqua said.
CoCo's family says his death was unfair, but they won't let him go, without purpose. They're asking the gangs to put their differences aside and the guns down.
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Latest Comments on "Police: Teen's Death Gang-Related"
posted by: smokeeater26 on 10:24 am on 10/27/09
Putting braids in your hair doesn't make you a thug. That is the problem with todays society to much stereotyping for the way someone looks,acts,etc. My hair is cut short does that make me a skinhead (No) please people think before you post.
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