CLEVELAND — The mother of a teenager killed outside an RTA station is talking about her son’s death as police investigate a second RTA homicide in just days.
The most recent killing was on Sunday evening, when 27-year-old Benjamin McComas was shot while riding the rapid near the Puritas station.
RELATED: Man fatally shot at Puritas RTA station
Last Thursday, 17-year-old Jamir Peak died when he was stabbed outside the Superior Red Line station.
"I blame myself. I couldn’t protect him; that's a parent's job, to protect your children, and I couldn't do that,” Aisha Peak said.
Jamir was an 11th grader at North Shore High School.
"I’m breathing, you know the situation is still numb,” Aisha Peak said.
Aisha says police haven’t said much to her about what happened. However, she believes her son was trying to break up a fight between two girls who police say had been sent home from school that morning.
Transit police say the girls had been fighting that morning at North Shore Charter School, which was a fight that carried over from one just weeks ago.
Police say 56-year-old Geraldine Johnson got involved on Thursday. It’s not clear her relationship with the girls involved.
Johnson is accused of stabbing Jamir and a teenage girl who survived.
"I have a few choice words to say to her, but from one to another, my son was doing what an adult should have done, which was to break up the fight. And instead, you decided to cause more drama,” Aisha Peak said.
Days later, Sunday evening, a second killing on RTA property.
Around 7:30 that night, McComas was shot in his seat on the Red Line headed east near the Puritas Station.
RTA police say the rapid operator called officers about a man smoking on the rapid and causing a disturbance. Before officers could get there, police say the 25-year-old man shot McComas and started rifling through his pockets.
Cleveland police arrested the man and are investigating the homicide.
News 5 Investigators asked Transit Police Chief Deirdre Jones if the rapid is safe.
"These two incidents, they’re very tragic, and I wouldn’t wish these on anybody's family, especially around this time of the year,” Jones said.
Chief Jones admits there’s a shortage of officers in her department, but they have targeted details where officers, including herself, ride trains to show visibility during morning and evening rush hours.
Jones says the system is safe and secure.
"These are anomalies. We have not had a homicide on our system in almost four years. The system is still, overall, the system is safe,” Jones said.
The suspect in the shooting has not been charged.
Johnson was arraigned this morning in East Cleveland on felonious assault and reckless homicide. Chief Jones says she’s being held on a $1 million bond.
Jones says detectives are also looking to determine whether charges should be filed against the girls who were initially fighting.
