Mother of Slain Ghanaian Teen Arrives in New York Seeking Justice

The mother of 15-year-old Ghanaian schoolboy Javits Badu Nkansah Frimpong, who was fatally shot on his way to school in the Bronx last week, arrived in New York on Wednesday to mourn her son and demand justice for his killing.

Madam Doris Adu Gyamfi landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport on 4 November 2026 and was received by officials from Ghana’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations and the Consulate General in New York. The welcoming party was led by Deputy Permanent Representative Ben Dotsei Malor and Consul-General Anthony El-Adas.

Her arrival follows an emergency visa granted after New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani appealed to US President Donald Trump, who agreed to expedite the process so she could attend her son’s funeral. Ghana’s government, through Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, facilitated her travel and has pledged full support for the bereaved family.

Javits, a quiet tenth-grader who had moved from Ghana about a year earlier to live with his father, Thomas Frimpong, a yellow-cab driver, was ambushed on the morning of Thursday, 29 October. He was walking to DreamYard Preparatory School near Crotona Park when three masked males in dark clothing chased him and shot him once in the abdomen near East 171st Street and Crotona Place, just a block from his home. Officers rushed him to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he later died.

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Surveillance video captured the pursuit. Police say the suspects retrieved spent shell casings before fleeing into the subway system.

Investigators are examining possible motives including robbery, mistaken identity, or retaliation linked to bullying the teenager had reported at school in the days before the attack. No arrests have been made.

The soft-spoken boy, who dreamed of becoming a doctor and often left his phone at home to focus on schoolwork, had marked one year in the United States the day before he was killed. His father has described him as a dedicated student who kept largely to himself.

Madam Gyamfi has made clear her priority. “I want justice for my son, that is all,” she said upon arrival and earlier in Ghana. She has spoken of the painful loss of a young life full of promise.

Ghana’s Mission and Consulate remain in close contact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Accra and US authorities to support the family with funeral and burial arrangements. Minister Ablakwa has reiterated the commitment of President John Dramani Mahama and the government to ensure those responsible face the full force of the law.

A growing memorial of candles and flowers marks the site of the shooting. Community vigils have drawn classmates, clergy, Ghanaian diaspora members and local officials calling for accountability. The investigation continues.