NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk family is grieving the loss of 14-year-old Amir Burnett.
His mother, Nyshell Traynham, said the boy had just started his eighth-grade year at Norview Middle School where he made it onto the school's football team.
"All he talked about was his football game because he made it for the school," Traynham said. "He would play for the rec center, but my baby made it for the school. He was proud of that and I was proud of my baby."
Traynham said she moved down to Norfolk from Pennsylvania six years ago to give her children a better life. She said Amir has a younger sister whom he looked after and loved his family. She said he would try to do well in school and athletics to make her and her family proud of him.
Traynham called herself a protective mother who barely let Amir go out with friends, especially if she didn't know the other children. That is, until he asked her to go out with a group of friends to hang out, watch football, and sleep over at a friend's home at the Crown Point Townhomes near East Virginia Beach Boulevard.
"I let my baby go, my baby went and he ain't never coming back again," Traynham said as she cried in front of her home. "That's all I know. I'm just a mom wanting to know answers about my innocent baby that had a genuine heart, would give the shirt off his back, shoes off his feet... why my baby?"
Norfolk Police said Amir was shot Sunday afternoon around 12:35 p.m. on Wyngate Drive, off of Raby Road. Detectives said they got a call about a teenager suffering from a gunshot wound. That's when they said medics rushed the boy to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
The suspect, Albert J. Sutton, 27, was arrested at the scene of the shooting. He is charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless handling of a firearm.
Traynham said she wants to see Sutton face more severe charges for what happened to her child.
"It's not acceptable. For an adult, a 27-year-old man, to take my 14-year-old baby. I moved from Pennsylvania to down here for my baby to have a better life," Traynham said. "This ain't a better life. My baby didn't even get to live his life."
Sutton is currently being held in Norfolk City Jail without bond.
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