MESQUITE, Texas — The mother of a 16-year-old found with a gunshot wound Saturday evening is desperate for answers on what may have happened to him.
Mesquite police are investigating the death of Key'Mydre Palmer Anderson as a homicide.
Police said they responded just after 7 p.m. to the 2800 block of Clay Mathis Road. That's where a witness reported seeing a person "fall from a vehicle."
According to police, officers found Anderson lying on the ground with a gunshot wound to his chest. He was taken to a hospital, but he later died.
“Now, I only have memories, and pictures and video,” Anderson's mother, Shenika Palmer, said while wiping away tears as she talked about her first-born son.
Photos: Key'Mydre Anderson
Palmer said her son stepped out of the house on Saturday evening, after a friend picked him up.
“All I know is he pulls up in a black Honda civic, all black,” Palmer recalled.
But, somehow, later that night, Anderson was shot in the chest and, police believe, possibly pushed out of a car. He was found feet away from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Mesquite, less than two minutes from his home, Palmer said.
“That’s what hurts," she said. "Not even two minutes. That’s right there."
At first, officers thought the 16-year-old was involved in a car accident. But, "in fact, it wasn’t an accident,” said Officer Jolyn Lopez from the Mesquite Police Department.
Palmer told WFAA that officers found Anderson with nothing on and his skin scraped up.
"They said his whole body was skin, like he was dragged,” Palmer described.
She said at least one witness ran over to help and put a jacket over her son, making sure he was warm until the ambulance arrived.
“The witness says he was dangling," she described. "My baby was holding on. He didn’t want to go."
Palmer said her son was a sophomore at Horn High School in Mesquite ISD and was the oldest of five. He also was working at Sonic as a cook to help contribute to the household and care for his siblings after Palmer's brother died.
“It made Key’mydre the man of the house when my brother passed," she said. “He had a job so he can help me."
Now, Palmer said her family is trying to cope with Anderson's loss. They set up an online crowdfunding campaign, hoping it will financially get them on their feet.
Meanwhile, detectives have been going around the 3000 block of Clay Mathius Road asking neighbors for surveillance video.