The family of 15-year-old James Means is looking for answers after he was gunned down in Charleston, West Virginia on Monday night.
According to witnesses, Means and 62-year-old Williams Pulliam bumped into each other outside a Dollar General store.
The alleged shooter, William Pulliam, 62, has shown no remorse for the killing. He reportedly told police that he felt threatened when Means approached him after coming out of a dollar store. He has since been charged with first-degree murder.
“The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street,” police say Pulliam said after the shooting.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Ruby has been reached to determine if the shooting can be called a hate crime.
“That review is in its early stages, and the fact that a review is being conducted should not be taken as any indication of what the review’s outcome will be,” Ruby said.
His mother, Nafia Adkins, said that she was confident her son would find justice in the legal system: “We know that justice is going to succeed in this matter. We are not going to put it in our hands. We are going to let the law put it in their hands.”
His family has also asked for peace and calm in the wake of the shooting.
“We just want everybody know that we don’t hold a grudge, so nobody else should hold a grudge,” Teresa Means, James’ aunt, said. “We all have to forgive.”