Mother forgives teen who accidentally shot and killed her 15-year-old son

Monday, July 15, 2019
Mom forgives teen who accidentally shot and killed 15-year-old son
"People make bad mistakes and bad choices all the time. He's a kid, and I forgive him and I love him because he reached out to me."

SPRING, Texas -- Christelyn Palmer dropped her 15-year-old brother off at a friend's house on July 12, and that would be the last day she ever saw him alive.

Hours after Jordan Angel went to his friend's house, he was shot and killed.

Investigators said Angel's 17-year-old friend accidentally killed him while the two were playing with a gun.

The older teenager was arrested and charged with manslaughter. He's since been released on bond.

"Today, he reached out to me," Kim Booker, Angel's mother said. She agreed to meet with him, and said what she saw was a person grieving the loss of a friend. "He loved his friend. People make bad mistakes and bad choices all the time. He's a kid, and I forgive him and I love him because he reached out to me."

"The pain for him, and the pain for us is different," she said, "But two families are hurting."

Angel's family said he was a good kid. He loved playing football and basketball in youth leagues. He hoped to play at Klein High School, where his mother said he would have been a sophomore.

He also loved his family. "I could pass by him in the night and he would wake up and see if I needed any help."

Booker is partially paralyzed and was just starting to walk again. "He didn't want me to fall down. He took care of me," she said.

The mother and son moved in with her sister after the death of Angel's dad last year.

Now, the family is facing another funeral that no one could have anticipated.

"Jordan dreamed of playing sports in college and going pro," she said of her son's dreams.

His sister said Angel's death has impacted everyone who loved him.

"His teachers and friends from school have been affected. People loved Jordan," Palmer said. "That's his legacy, but it's also that guns are not toys. What happened has touched everyone who knew him."

A GoFundMe account has been set up to help with expenses.