An aspiring teen rapper was accidentally shot and killed in a basement recording studio in Virginia, police said.
Malikyh Person was fatally shot by a family friend in Manassas, Virginia, where he spent so much of his time. Police believe it was an accident.
“I have to learn how to live life all over again without him here,” said Danielle Person, Malikyh's mother.
She can still smell his scent in his bedroom. She can still see photos of him scattered downstairs. She can hear the sound of his voice in his music.
But what she wouldn't give just to be able to feel his touch one more time.
“I just keep praying and asking God to get me through it. It’s hard,” Danielle said.
"To get a phone call at 6 o'clock in the morning that my brother's gone," Malikyh's older sister Tyeshia said. "And it's because of a gun, like, what? How does this happen?"
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The bullet halted the young and aspiring rapper's music journey. Less than a year behind the mic, Malikyh was already getting calls from record labels.
All his brother Kenny can think of is what could have been.
“I listen to his old music and listen to it now and you can hear the improvement, so three years from now ... I know it would have been something great,” he said.
Danielle had an inkling of her son’s popularity from the growing fanbase he was building through his music. But it wasn’t until she came to Stonewall Park after his death that she realized how many people loved him.
“I was in complete awe. I’m like wow, they loved him just as much as we did,” she said.
As she tries to move forward, Danielle said she knows she’ll have to abide by one of her own house rules.
“If I want to see my son again one day, I have to forgive. It doesn’t take the pain away, but I have to.”
