BALTIMORE — They sent the 15-year-old freshman off to school Wednesday not knowing he'd never make it back.
Laron Henderson was murdered just a few blocks away from school and his family is sharing their outrage.
"This is a big gentle giant. He was like 6' 6, 15-years-old. Gentle Giant," said Shanea Jones, Laron's aunt.
Henderson's murder Wednesday afternoon left a giant hole in his family as they work to piece together exactly what happened.
"They said my baby is dead. My baby is dead. My baby is gone," Jones remembered.
It's news no parent wants to ever hear but information no family should have to search for on their own.
"We were running from the examiners office, to Mount Sinai, to the University of Maryland, to the detective's office. No one has a child," she added.
Her anger a day later, is directed at the Baltimore city public schools and Baltimore Police.
"No one identified him, called his mother to let his mother know that he was out on the ground dead, and he goes to a school less than a mile away," she said.
The teen was hoping to play on Forest Park High's basketball team and eventually join the army, the family says.
Instead, he was robbed of his potential in an ally just blocks away from his school.
"He's been working hard, hard as he can. His grades were perfect this semester," one family member shared.
While the police look to find who was behind the gun Wednesday, the family's looking at who was behind making the phone call that would've offered them some clarity.
"That's a problem with me. It doesn't resonate with me. It doesn't sit right. It's not normal," said Jones.
Baltimore City Public School officials sent us a statement addressing the family's communication concerns saying in part, "Because the shooting happened off campus, notification of the victim's family comes from Baltimore City Police as part of their investigation, and we do not interfere with that process."
Anyone with information regarding Henderson's death is asked to call Baltimore City Police.
