AUSTIN, Texas — The mother of a teenager killed in a shooting over the Fourth of July weekend is asking for help getting justice as police continue searching for the person responsible.

18-year-old Antonio Cleveland, Jr., was shot and killed near a shopping plaza on East Braker Lane on July 4.

His mother, Sharamie Robinson, is now sorting through years of memories of her only son.

“That was my little baby,” Robinson said. “He was my little hero.”

Robinson, who described her son as a strong, well-rounded and active young man, said the loss has devastated her family.

“Words can’t describe how anybody in our family feels. No one will ever understand how I feel,” she said.

As several Central Texas shootings this month have involved teenage victims or suspects, Robinson is among those pleading for violence among young people to stop.

“Y’all got to stop killing each other,” Robinson said through tears. “Y’all are the future. Some of y’all are not even having a future at 16, 15. It has to stop,” she said.

ALSO| Second suspect surrenders in deadly NE Austin nightclub shooting

KEYE

Cleveland’s killing came during a deadly stretch involving both teen victims and teen suspects.

Over the same weekend Cleveland was killed, two people, 19-year-old Layla Williamson and 23-year-old VT Wood-Davion Olden Hornsby, were shot and killed outside a Northeast Travis County nightclub.

According to the Travis County Sheriff’s Office, 20-year-old Kevin Parrish and 19-year-old James Shearrion are now both in custody. TCSO said Shearrion’s mother, 38-year-old Precious Josslyn Shearrion, also turned herself in to law enforcement Monday after a warrant was issued for her for hindering apprehension and tampering with evidence in relation to this case.

ATX Peace, a local violence prevention group, said it has seen younger people increasingly affected by gun violence, including as victims and as those involved in shootings.

“Actually, we’ve been doing this work for around four years now. And in the past three years, we’ve seen the age decrease to the point where we even have, you know, young teenagers being either victims or being the ones that are involved in these situations,” Abel Lopez, AXT Peace director, said.

The group has worked to implement violence intervention strategies in Austin in an effort to save lives, working with people deemed the “highest risk” at either committing or becoming the victims of gun violence.

Nicholas Meyerson, an assistant professor of public health at Johns Hopkins, said teen gun violence is driven by multiple factors, including poverty and access to guns.

“When kids don’t feel like they have access to resources to be able to live and live to their full potential, have their well-being met, that’s where violence starts to really exacerbate,” Meyerson said.

Police have not yet identified the person who killed Cleveland. Robinson urged anyone with information to come forward. APD asks anyone with knowledge of the incident to share through the department’s evidence submission portal.

“Just call that number and say something. Just say something,” she said.