Riley Billingslea was 15 years old, an only child, and a military school student who wanted to become an engineer.
Nearly a week after he was killed, his family and friends gathered near the Bronx apartment where he had been shot.
“He always knew how to make everybody laugh. That’s something Riley knew how to do. He made a lot of people laugh,” community member Kaden Hoheb said.
Police say Billingslea was inside a fifth-floor apartment on Claflin Avenue when a dispute broke out.
Investigators say the gunman pulled a weapon from a backpack and opened fire, killing Billingslea and grazing a 13-year-old boy.
The gun has not been recovered. No one has been arrested. Police, though, say they have a person of interest.
“Young man, turn yourself in. Do right. Riley ain’t never did nobody wrong,” Billingslea’s mom, Ketrice Riley, said.
His death comes as gun violence involving young people persists.
NYPD counted 60 shooting victims under age 18 through July 26, just five fewer than at the same point last year. Seven of those victims died.
Billingslea was killed more than two weeks after that count ended.
“Riley was my love. I love my only grandson. My only grandchild,” Billingslea’s grandmother, Elaine Rogers, said.
As the family prepared to release balloons in his memory, the shooting remained unsolved, and their plea remained the same.
“I just want to keep reiterating for the young man, come forward. Please. Come forward. Put an end to this,” Rogers said.