Camden Woman Tried To Rescue Teen Son From Gang Prior To His Murder
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- It's been a week since a 13-year-old boy became Camden's first homicide victim of 2016.
His mother says he had ties to a gang and she made numerous calls for help to no avail.
Taisha Mercado is grieving and she's hoping that by telling her story, more will be spent for gang intervention programs.
"I keep trying to tell myself it's not real, it's not real," she says.
Her son Nathaniel Plummer, Jr, was gunned down in the 2900 Block of Line Street in Camden last week.
The single mother of three says he was a good kid. He loved basketball and was well liked at his school, but after witnessing his father's arrest and subsequent incarceration, something shifted.
"He spiraled out of control," she says. "He changed, he shut down."
Mercado says the family found photos of Nate online holding up gang signs. He had been in counseling since age six and confided in his counselor that he had "anger problems" and was in a gang. And after this shift, Mercado says she asked that her son be enrolled in anger management, in residential programs or even go to jail. But the streets claimed his life before help came.
"It hurts, it hurts," she says.
Reverend John Parker works with Project Guardian, a program started last year by Camden County Police. It brings law enforcement and former gangbangers together to save kids like Nate from the streets.
"The goal is to get them before the gangs," says Parker. "To help them find a better way, to let them know there is an alternative."
Parker says his church has hosted meetings that include children as young as 11 years old. The kids are identified by schools as young people vulnerable to gang influence.
"We want them to know this is not the way to live your young life," says Parker, who signed onto the program as a faith leader. "You end up in jail, hurt or killed, and its sad. It's really sad."
Mercado will bury her son on Monday. She's asked that no one wear gang colors or "RIP" shirts at the memorial service. She'll celebrate Nate's birthday at the on Tuesday. He would have turned 14. Mercado's entire family, including a twin sister, are providing support.
Mercado says she knows her son couldn't be saved, but she wants to be open and honest about the issues her son experienced.
"My son had two separate lives," she says. "I kept it real with him. I told him he was pretending. It wasn't him... it wasn't him."
She says she hopes that by sharing his story, other mothers will come forward and demand more money for services, like counseling and recreation, to give their children more alternatives to gang life.
"I am being as transparent as possible to both help find my son's killer," says Mercado, "and to help save the thousands of other 'Nates' out there."
A spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutors Office says they are conducting a thorough investigation into the Plummer homicide. No charges have been filed in the case at this time.
