8-year-old Maryland boy killed in shooting loved math, God and family: report
PJ was playing video games after football practice at school when he was fatally shot
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An 8-year-old Maryland boy shot to death on Monday loved mathematics, God and his family, according to local reports.
Prince George's County police responded to reports of a shooting on Tuesday night after a white sedan pulled into a parking lot outside an apartment building on the 1600 block of Brightseat Road and began shooting at a group of adults, police said in a press release.
Police then discovered 8-year-old Peyton "PJ" Evans with gunshot wounds and transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to police.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"My son was 8 years old. He was born on Valentine’s Day, 2013. My son loved God. He loved his family. He loved his friends. He loved his teammates," PJ's mother Tiffani Evans told 7 News, a Maryland ABC station. "If I can’t stress nothing out here man, love on y’all kids. I loved my son and before my son closed his eyes, 10 minutes before he closed his eyes, I said, 'Boy I love you. You played a hell of a game in that scrimmage.'"
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PJ was a football fan, straight-A student and a lover of mathematics, according to his mom.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He worked his a-- off, excuse my French," Evans told 7 News. "My son was a mathematician. He loved math. That was his thing. My son is in Heaven and I know it because he loved the Lord!"
Prince George's County Police Chief Aziz said during a Wednesday press conference that PJ was playing video games after football practice at school when he was fatally shot. The department does not have any leads so far but is "working diligently" to determine who is responsible for the boy's tragic death.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"They've been working so long … hours, and so hard, because it hits really close to home because many of us have children," Aziz said of the officers and detectives on the case. "So the pain is real."
Aziz spoke with Evans on Tuesday night and said the police department is "grieving with" her family and "assured her" that the department would bring justice to the victim and closure for his family.
A GoFuneMe for a foundation established in PJ's name "to support community activities for the youth in the community" has exceeded $20,000 in donations so far.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Authorities are offering a $25,000 reward for anyone with information that could lead to a suspect's arrest and are asking citizens to contact detectives at 301-516-2512 or anonymously call Crime Solvers at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).