James Smith was shot to death Monday afternoon on the basketball court at the Douglass Community Center in southeast Washington. His mother, Benita Smith, believes her son was murdered over an early Christmas gift.
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"I loved my son, his father loved him as well," Benita Smith told WJLA . "My son was a vibrant young man, he was a honest little boy, he was a child that never asked for anything."
Benita Smith said her son's red Air Jordans were missing after he was killed.
"$220? Come on man, it wasn't worth it," James Smith's brother said.
At the vigil, family and friends prayed for peace while they wait for justice.
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"My cousin got robbed of growing up to be a father, growing up to be famous, growing up to be a man. Why?" James Smith's cousin said.
Smith's murder was the city's 110th homicide this year.
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