James Anthony Smith's mother gave her 17-year-old son an early Christmas gift that ended up costing his life.

The Washington, D.C., resident was a sophomore at Ballou High School before he was gunned down, apparently over $220 sneakers he only wore for four days.

According to The Washington Post, on Dec. 18, James was shot while playing on a basketball court at the Frederick Douglass Community Center but his shoeless body was discovered less than a block away.

“He was an all-American kid,” said his mother, Benita Smith. “He loved his red shoes. He loved basketball. He loved his computer games … I can’t believe he was killed, all over a pair of shoes.”

Investigators state that the shooting occurred around 6 p.m. at the community center in a cul-de-sac lined with newer-model homes. When the victim was shot, he did not immediately fall. Instead, he ran about a block after being shot, taking a path that cuts through the homes.

Smith decided to give her son the Christmas gift early because he was improving in Spanish class and he really wanted to wear his new shoes. James' last words to his mother were "I love you" before heading off to play basketball.

“We need some new re-education as to how we should act as a people,” D.C. Councilman Trayon White Sr. (D-Ward 8) said. “We shouldn’t devalue ourselves to an Air Jordan.”

While crime in Ward 8 has been on the decline, James was the sixth teenager under 18 to be killed this year in the District, and the second student from Ballou High to die from violence this year.

Police Chief Peter Newsham said investigators “tentatively think it may have been a robbery.” Authorities have not arrested anyone connected to the shooting, as of this report.

James Anthony Smith

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