New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday that President Donald Trump agreed to grant a visa to the mother of a teenager who was shot and killed in the Bronx on Thursday.
15-year-old Javits Frimpong, who moved from Ghana to live with his father roughly a year ago, was shot in the abdomen on Thursday morning while going to his school near Crotona Park. He died later that day at St. Barnabas Hospital, police said.
“The murder of a child is a pain no parent should have to endure, let alone from thousands of miles away,” Mamdani said. “Javits Frimpong’s mother deserves to say goodbye to her son in person. I just got off the phone with President Trump and he has agreed to grant her visa immediately. All of New York City is mourning this tragedy.”
Frimpong’s story began circulating late in the week after his father, Thomas, candidly spoke to local reporters about his son’s death. A taxi driver, he said he’s lived in the United States for two decades and makes trips often back to Ghana to visit his wife and the late teenager’s mother.
Detectives are looking for three teenagers in connection with the shooting, according to CBS News. Frimpong’s father had said two boys were recently suspended from the school for bullying his son. No arrests have been made and the incident remains under investigation.
“Every child in the Bronx deserves to walk to school without fearing for their life,” Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) said. “And no parent should have to endure what Javits’s father, Thomas, is enduring now. My heart is with him and with everyone in Claremont grieving today.”
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A vigil was held Friday night to honor Frimpong’s life, which was attended by religious leaders, community members, and family members of other teenagers who have lost their lives to violence in New York City. The New York City Department of Education offered counseling and other support to students and staff of the school Frimpong attended, Dreamyard Preparatory School.
Foreign Minister Sam Okudzeto Ablakwa said on Friday he had spoken with Frimpong’s father and “directly conveyed the condolences of the Government and people of Ghana.” He also said the Foreign Ministry will “work tirelessly with US authorities to ensure justice is secured.”