DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Tiya Morgan dropped off her son at work last week not knowing she would never see him again.
Now she is making final arrangements to honor Jacob Johnson's life. The 16-year-old's funeral is planned for Saturday. While people memorialize the teen's short life, his suspected killer is in custody at DeKalb County's juvenile detention center.
Morgan said she doesn't want people to remember her son for how his life was taken - she wants people to know the sweet hard-working boy she raised.
“They didn’t just rob him, they robbed the world of my child," Morgan said.
When Morgan sent her son to work on July 15 at a Dekalb County IHOP, she had no idea that her kind, smart and ambitious child would lose his life that day.
Dekalb County Sheriff's Office investigators said Johnson was shot and killed by another teen who knew him.
“There wasn’t no beef. This boy just did not like my son," she said. "My son was only working there for a few months. The news was reporting that this was his first summer job but Jacob has been working since he was 14 years old."
Johnson was one of Morgan's four children.
She said he loved roller skating, had big dreams and wanted to be a lawyer someday— but now she’s planning his homegoing service instead.
Through her grief and anger, she has a message for the community.
“It's not just my child. It other mothers and fathers out there whose children didn’t deserve this," Morgan said.
This grief-stricken mom said she is tired of gun violence in metro Atlanta and is asking parents and kids to love each other instead of turning to irreversible measures. She's also asking parents to step up.
“I need parents to know who have handguns or whose children can get access to handguns, first and foremost with what happened to my son I feel like they should be charged as well," said Morgan.
Johnson's visitation is Friday and his memorial is scheduled for Saturday. Those who would like to contribute to memorial funds can do so here.