Cornelius German told his mother he was afraid to wait for her at the bus stop because of all the shootings lately, so he asked her to meet him at a friend's.
Timika Rutledge said she and the boy's father pulled up to a home and waited Monday night, even blowing the horn for him to come out. Then they saw police arrive.
"I saw an officer and I stopped him and asked, 'Officer, what's going on?' "
"A kid got shot in the back," he told Rutledge.
"I went back there and saw my son's jacket and his gym shoes. I just bought those shoes. I saw him laying in the grass in the backyard. … I knew it was him in the dark.
"I stayed there until they took him to the morgue," Rutledge said. "They covered him in a burgundy blanket."