Mother of 16-year-old gunned down in Chicago calls for change: 'I don't want my son to be another statistic'
'I need answers ... they took my baby from me,' Valencia Pulliam tells 'The Story'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}A Chicago woman whose 16-year-old son was killed earlier this year told "The Story" Wednesday night that she refuses to let him be remembered as "another statistic."
Valencia Pullum described Darius “DJ” Lane Jr. as a lovable child who had "big dreams" before he was "gunned down for no reason" March 28 in a drive-by shooting while he was returning from a local store.
"I'm mad because I need answers," an emotional Pullum told host Trace Gallagher. "My son is gone. They took my baby from me."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}3 CHILDREN SHOT DEAD, 2 WOUNDED OVER CROSS-FIRE IN CHICAGO
"I don't want my son to be another statistic out here."
Police identified the vehicle from which the fatal shots were fired as a silver BMW, but the case remains unsolved and no arrests have been made.
"If you know something, just speak up," Pullam pleaded Wednesday, adding that "a lot of people don't say anything because they are either scared or think other things like retaliation, which is not the way to go."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}DJ's murder is one in a long string of disturbing gun violence incidents involving young children and teenagers in Chicago.
As homicides soar in the city, Pullum told Gallagher she hopes police officers will "just do their job," adding "I don't want my son to be another statistic out here."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pullum was joined by Chicago activist Tio Hardiman, the executive director of Violence Interrupters, who called on city leadership "to do away with the models of the past."
"They are not working right now in Chicago," he said.
When asked about the root of the violence, Hardiman told Gallagher "everyone thinks it's gang-related but it's not. You have a lot of interpersonal conflict out there."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pullum however, claimed DJ was not affiliated with any local gangs and had no reason to fear for his safety.
"This was totally unexpected," she said. "DJ was loved by so many people, he was a good kid. Everywhere he went, everybody knew who DJ was."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pullum said DJ planned to get his high school diploma and "prove to everyone that I can do it."
"He said 'Mama, I promise you when this coronavirus is over with, I'm going to go back to school and I'm going to get my high school diploma,'" she said, adding that her son "liked to rap. He said 'I'm going to get you out of the hood, I’m gonna buy you a Lamborghini and I'm going to prove everybody wrong and make my own money and do what's right.
"He said 'I promise you, mama, I'm going to do it,' and they took that away from me."