Mother still pleading for answers after 5-year-old son's shooting death 6 years ago

PITTSBURGH — After six years of not knowing who’s responsible for her 5-year-old’s death, a Pittsburgh mother is renewing her pleas for answers after more children recently became victims of gun violence.

“It has been a hard time,” Shavar Johnson said. “It’s pain in my heart to have lost my first son at a young age.”

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Johnson’s son, Ja'Lyon Johnson, was three weeks away from celebrating his sixth birthday when he was sitting in his family’s living room in Pittsburgh’s Northview Heights neighborhood and was shot in the chest.

"I've got to go visit my son now at a cemetery. I just can't see him; hug him. It's hard,” Johnson said.

Police said they believed the bullets from the unknown gunman were meant for a 17-year-old sleeping inside a nearby residence.

“It just hurts for me to know that somebody would do this,” Johnson said.

Johnson has two tattoos to remember the son she lost six years ago: one on her left shoulder of his face and one on her right shoulder of a message to him. She’s determined to make sure his memory stays alive and is pleading for anyone who knows who may be responsible for his death to come forward.

"It's hard,” she said. “I have no peace."

For the person or people who fired the fatal shot, Johnson has a simple message.

"You need to just turn yourself in,” she said. “I know that you're suffering, knowing that you did this. That you hurt somebody's family and took someone's child away from them."

Pittsburgh police said the investigation is ongoing, but they have no new updates in the case.

A reward is being offered for information that leads to an arrest. Anyone who knows something about the shooting is asked to contact authorities.

WPXI