The parents of Antonio Martin say their son was killed by police in Berkeley, Mo., last night. And while he had had problems, it "doesn't make any sense for them to kill my son like this," Toni Martin-Green tells the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She added, "I am trying to remain calm."
Martin-Green came forward last night to say it was her son who was shot and killed by a police officer in the parking lot of a Mobil gas station in Berkeley, just 2 miles from Ferguson, Mo. Police have not officially released the name of the slain; they say he pointed a gun at a police officer.
Antonio Martin was the oldest of Martin-Green's children. His father, Jerome Green, told the Post-Dispatch Wednesday, "He's like any other kid who had dreams or hopes," adding, "We loved being around him."
The newspaper notes, "Police say the man shot had a criminal record, with charges including three assaults, armed robbery, armed criminal action and multiple uses of weapons since he was 17."
His family responds that Antonio Martin had been arrested, and had "stumbled" in the past.
"In the last year, he was really trying to find who he was. He was ready to take the world on," Green said.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
