A late-night trip to deliver a grapefruit to an ailing neighbor was Ronald Jackson’s last act of kindness.
Gazing on the bloodied sidewalk of the 1100 block of Myrtle Avenue in West Baltimore where the 14-year-old had laid dying from several gunshot wounds Sunday evening, his oldest brother, Terry “TJ” Keels, said the young basketball enthusiast was the victim of fate.
“It was a case of mistaken identity,” Keels said as he stood on the stoop Monday afternoon, head bowed in mourning.
“He was a good kid; everybody loved him. He went to school and never bothered nobody. He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Sometime around 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Ronald knocked on the door of the elderly neighbor — grapefruit in hand. But witnesses told police a man wearing a plaid overcoat approached the teen, shooting him three times in the shoulder, leg and arm.
“Something told me to run when I heard the shots,” TJ recalled. “I came around the corner and he was crying for help.
“When they put him in the ambulance he was screaming, ‘Mama, mama, get me out of here!’ ”
The brutal and random slaying of the popular youngster affected not only his family, but neighbors living on the tight-knit block.
“I know everybody liked him. He was always just a nice kid, always playing and smiling,” said Purcell Reed, 60, who lives a few doors down from Ronald’s home. “It’s just a shame.”
Baltimore police spokeswoman Nicole Monroe said detectives did not have any suspects.
Meanwhile, dozens of family and friends gathered at Ronald’s home Monday afternoon, just across the street from where he was shot. His aunt, Tawanda Pope, said the eighth-grader at Booker T. Washington Middle School was best known for playing cymbals in the school band.
“He loved to fix bicycles and be outside. He was just the nicest boy,” she said. “He will be missed.”
Ronald’s death pushed the number of homicides in the city this year to 221, compared with 270 during the same time last year. Police urged anyone with information to call homicide at 410-396-2100 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7LOCKUP (756-2587).
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