‘He was just a kid’ : Mother of teen shot by police in Mississauga speaks at inquest

In an emotional first day, the mother of a teen shot and killed by police in Mississauga spoke at an inquest.

The inquest into the death of Ozama Shaw started today (Sept. 26) and is scheduled to last for several days.

A Peel Regional Police officer shot Ozama, 15, at Credit Valley Town Plaza in the early morning hours of July 27, 2017, after he and a group of friends tried to rob two businesses and carjack two vehicles.

He died in hospital nearly a month later on Aug. 26. He is reportedly among the youngest people killed by police in Ontario.

The first witness in the inquest, Ozama’s mother, Kadene Thain, spoke about how she had so much hope for her two sons when they first came to Canada from Jamaica in September 2015.

Ozama was 13 years old at the time and excited to come.

“I thought my sons had a future here,” said Thain. “Canada was a safe, non-violent place to go.”

Thain said her son liked to play basketball and football and loved to play music and video games. He was dreaming of becoming a rapper or a GO train driver.

He had many friends and that may have led to his downfall, Thain said.

An incident at school changed his life. A girl stabbed him with a pen and he later grabbed the girl and shoved her in a locker. Ozama was arrested and then forced to change schools.

This led to more troubles as Ozama was unhappy at his new school – he missed playing football at his old school.

“So, I think that when he got there … he doesn’t care anymore. He started going out, hanging out with friends, coming home late,” she said.

He was arrested again in another incident.

Thain was working at both a factory and at an office as a cleaner, so she couldn’t be home. Ozama would go out late with friends and Thain couldn’t find him. Then she noticed he was smoking marijuana and once she found he had a knife. She called the police and he was charged.

This time, he was on house arrest but Ozama went out anyway and was gone for days. Thain called police to look for him.

“I wanted him to come home safe,” she said.

The Tuesday before he was shot, Ozama came home but he was in rough condition. He stayed for a short time and then left again.

On the day he was shot, Thain turned on the news before heading out for work. She heard a teen was shot and felt it was Ozama. Then, a short time later, Special Investigations Unit officers came to her home and told her about the shooting.

When asked why she wanted to speak at the inquest, Thain said she wanted justice.

“Justice and to make sure another mother never has to come and talk to you guys,” she said. “He was just a kid.”