By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS,

Tribune Staff Reporter

lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

NINETEEN-year-old Jeremiah Vernal Stubbs had just begun to carve out a future: a new job, clear goals, and a deep love for his tight-knit family. But in a burst of gunfire just feet from his home on Winder Terrace, those dreams were violently extinguished on Friday.

“He wasn’t a troublemaker,” his mother, Micheline Griffien, told The Tribune yesterday. “They waited on my son like a thief in the night.”

Stubbs was gunned down around 10.45pm. Police responded after ShotSpotter Technology picked up the sound of multiple rounds. When officers arrived, they found the teen lying unresponsive in the street. He had been shot several times. Emergency responders confirmed there were no signs of life.

His mother was just two doors away in the kitchen when the shots rang out.

“I heard every gunshot what my son got,” she said, voice breaking. “That’s hurtful. That’s something I will never forget. I could never erase that from my memory.”

Stubbs had recently started working at Atlantis. He often spoke of becoming an entrepreneur, building a transportation business from the ground up.

“He wanted to own his fleet of taxis and buses,” his mother said. “He wasn’t just some kind of vagabond. He was trying.”

Known for his sense of humour and tight bond with family, Stubbs often called his mother “Ms Krabs,” teasing her about money in a way only someone close could.

“Every time I see him, he want something,” she said, laughing through tears. “He would say, ‘Yeah, because I know you get it. You is Ms Krabs. Let me open that bag — that bag full of money.’”

Stubbs’ inner circle wasn’t a group of peers from the street –– it was his large family, his mother said. Raised among cousins who were more like siblings, his life revolved around home, ambition, and connection.

“Our family unit is very tight knit,” Ms Griffien explained. “If you see one, you would see the other.”

She’s adamant: her son wasn’t part of any gang or criminal activity. His death, she believes, was a betrayal — not random violence, but something far more personal.

“I know in my heart that’s someone who know my son who killed him; they waited on my son,” she said. “That’s someone that was very close to him.”

Stubbs was her only son and his father’s only child — a loss so deep it’s almost unspeakable.

“This person can’t even imagine what they take from us,” she said. “I don’t have another son.”

If there had been a conflict, she said, she would’ve done anything to resolve it.

“You could’ve come to my door,” she said. “If I had to beg, if I had to borrow, I would’ve done it for my child.”

Now, justice feels out of reach. Not because she doubts the system, but because no resolution can replace what’s been taken.

“For me there is no justice,” she said. “I am never going to see my son have any children... accomplish his goals... get married. I don’t even know what justice is.”

She’s surrendered the outcome to a higher power.

“I will let God handle it,” she said. “God don’t sleep. I believe in karma.”