Teenagers in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood are mourning the loss of their friend, 16-year-old Jonathan Dos Santos.
The boy was gunned down and killed Wednesday night while riding his bike on Fuller Street.
The community, along with Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, came together Friday night at Roberts Field in Dorchester, where "Jo Jo" used to play for the Dorchester Eagles Pop Warner football team.
"I still don't believe it, to be honest," said Deja Andrade. "I still don't believe my cousin is dead."
"Just a cool guy. Real cool laid back. He was always just very respectful. That's the thing about him, very very respectful," said Terry Cousin, the president of the Eagles.
Paris Cherry, Dos Santos' coach on the Boston Tigers basketball team, told necn that before the murder, the teen was afraid.
"He had came to me and said he was having issues with people in the neighborhood, and I would give him rides and stuff from the practice site and the train station at home because he didn't want to walk in the neighborhood," he said.
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Unlike many teens who live in the area, Cherry says Dos Santos actively tried to stay away from gangs and trouble in general.
"I know a lot of times, when things happen, people say, 'Oh this kid, he was a good kid,'" said Cherry. "But he honestly was a good kid - the last kid you would think something like this would happen to."
Boston Police believe Dos Santos was targeted.
Walsh said the teen's murder has had a big impact on him and he met this morning with city leaders about the issue.
"We're really going to focus and put a big emphasis over the next couple weeks on how we're trying to reach some of these kids that want out," said Walsh. "This kid was 16 years old."
"You can get caught up by association and not have nothing to do with it, but because you live in that area you can just get caught up," said Cousin.
A prayer was also said Friday night, along with words of hope.
"When you see something, say something, that's the era I grew up in. The 60s and 70s, when you were out of control, an adult put you in check," said Pastor William Dickerson of the Greater Love Tabernacle. "We have to take back our community by telling the kids what to do and not giving them multiple choices."
Walsh met Friday morning with city leaders about the issue.
The search is still on for two suspects. Anyone with information should call Boston Police.
The Eagles have set up a fundraiser for the teen. Anyone wishing to donate to the Jonathan Dos Santos Memorial Fund can send checks, made out to Dorchester Eagles Pop Warner, to this address:
East Boston Savings Bank
Attn: Rita Grimes
489 Gallivan Blvd.
Dorchester, MA 02124
