CLEVELAND — The family of a Cleveland student gunned down while waiting for a bus is devastated by their loss. The grandmother of John Adams High School student Pierre McCoy opened up only to News 5 for the first time. Cleveland Police are still searching for the person who shot and killed McCoy.
“It doesn’t even feel real, it feels like a bad dream that you’re going to wake up from, but you know you’re not going to wake up from this one,” said Nadeine Scott, grandmother of Pierre McCoy.
A new reality is setting in for Pierre McCoy’s grandmother, Nadeine Scott. She said all she feels is pain.
“This is (the) first grandchild I have lost ever, so to lose a grandchild, now I do see what others are going through mentally,” she said.
Monday night, Scott got the call no parent or grandparent ever wants to receive.
“Why the guns?” said Scott. “Why the killing? It’s just too much. To leave here like he did, that’s what hurts, because he had a lot of living to do.”
A memorial is now in place where Cleveland Police say McCoy was shot and killed waiting for the bus. McCoy was just yards away from John Adams High School where he was a student.
“He was a young man, he made mistakes, but he was just getting himself together,” Scott added. “He was going back to school, got a mentor. He was looking forward to doing better things with his life.”
McCoy leaves behind a big family. He’s one of 23 grandchildren. He also leaves behind his daughter, Le’Launni, who is just 5 months old.
“His character was exciting,” said Scott. “He was jolly. He was just a little man that loved his family and his nana.”
Memories flooded in for Scott as she recalled their final moments together.
“I hugged him because I don't get a chance to see him much and when I hugged him, I always pray for my children when I hug them because I never know when I am going to see them again,” said Scott.
That last hug left an imprint on her heart.
“He’s going to be missed all my life, the rest of my life,” said Scott.
RELATED: Community grappling with trauma following high schooler's shooting death
News 5’s Danita Harris sat down with Mayor Justin Bibb on Thursday for a previously scheduled interview, and he addressed the killing.
"As the mayor of this great city, there's a fragility of life," said Bibb. "We must treat every day like it's our last. That's why I have a sense of urgency about how we are leading our city. Every day that we don't do something to make the city better is one day of lost progress. While we see incidents like the one we saw this week with the young man at John Adams High School, and my heart goes out to that family, it's a tragedy, we are still making progress, but one homicide is one too many for me as a mayor. Every single day I'm going to fight to keep this city safe for everybody."
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