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ATLANTA - Tamisha Williams Torrance was relieved to hear the young man accused of murdering her 18-year-old son Joshua Mizell Torrance is now behind bars. But she still can't understand why her son was shot in the back on May 30, reportedly over a cell phone he tried to buy.
"It's so sad because when they found him, he still had the phones, his wallet, his money, everything. So what was the purpose of shooting my son in the back and taking his life?" the Southwest Atlanta mother said.
Atlanta Police confirm they arrested 19-year-old Justin Collier in DeKalb County on June 18, then booked him into the Fulton County Jail on murder and aggravated assault charges. Joshua's mother said Collier is not someone her son personally knew. She said she feels for the suspect and his family as well.
"It's so sad how some of these kids get with the wrong crowd, make bad decisions, and don't think about the consequences. I have to say to him that I forgive him because I am a child of God, but there is still a price he has to pay," said the mother of five.
MORE: Family hopes video will lead to arrest of teen's murder
Joshua graduated in May from Best Academy with a 3.9 GPA just one week before he was murdered. He was on a fencing team, the swim team and served as a page at the Georgia State Capitol. He looked forward to attending Albany State in August.
There were lots of colleges that wanted him, but he wanted to go to Albany State. He wanted to be an architectural engineer. I don't have to preach about my son because his life speaks for itself and I'm just so proud of all that he accomplished in just 18 years," Williams Torrance told Fox's 5 Portia Bruner.
"I just want all of this violence, shooting and robbing to stop. Parents need to have some serious conversations with their kids, dig through their phones and their computers and get a sense of what they're doing and who they're doing it with every day. These kids need to have mothers and fathers staying on top of them at all times. We can't be their friends. We have to be their parents if this is going to stop," the heartbroken mother said as she sat next to a picture of Joshua in his honors graduate attire.
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