‘I ... want justice,’ mom says after 15-year-old son shot to death in Durham

At the entrance of the Morrisville apartment hangs an apron with photos of a boy and a woman that says, “Momma, I’ll always be with you! — Chef Mike.”

A water bottle has more pictures of the boy. His bedroom door has his name on it. A framed basketball jersey with the number 21 hangs in the living room, dedicated by his middle school, Carter Community Charter School, at his funeral. Out on the balcony last week were flowers from the service.

Michael Harris, 15, was fatally shot Aug. 23, exactly two months before his 16th birthday. He was shot in the lower back, his mother said, and taken to Duke Regional Hospital.

“When I got there they were still working on him, so I still had hope,” Kenita Stubbs said in an interview with The News & Observer. But he didn’t make it. She was only able to see her son after he had died.

Harris, known to his family and friends as Lil Mike, loved to play basketball. He had just started at West Cary High School and hoped to go to Duke University, and one day, become a famous chef, Stubbs said. When he was older, he wanted to become a preacher.

Stubbs think the gunfire that killed her son was meant for someone else.

She and her son had texted throughout that night. He had played video games and basketball, and Stubbs had said it was good he was getting exercise.

“I know you’re just calling me fat,” he’d replied.

That was the last text conversation they had.

Harris had nothing to do with gangs or gun violence, Stubbs said. “My son was against it. We do awareness (through community plays) for things like that.”

“Michael was a sweet, nurturing, kind-hearted, caring child,” she said. He was the third of four siblings and had good relationships with his nieces and nephews.

Stubbs has several tattoos, and she plans to get a new one in memory of her son. She has many ideas, but she’s not sure what she wants to get yet.

Harris’ signature dish was shrimp-o-crab-o-macaroni. He would sell it every year during a “Be a Boss, Not a Bully” fundraiser at school. The first year, he cooked one pan and sold out. The next year, he cooked three pans that sold out too.

During the pandemic, he was home, making his mother and his sister gain weight.

Harris would take care of Stubbs, who has a degenerative disc disease, when she had injections and surgeries.

“He would never let me lift a finger,” she said. “He’d cook for me. He’d clean for me.”

Stubbs spoke with police Friday to learn more about their investigation.

“I pretty much want justice and hope they continue to work,” she said Tuesday, adding, “I really don’t care (about all the details), because knowing won’t get him back. What I do care about is getting justice for him.”

2nd child killed in Durham this summer

Harris was the second child fatally shot in Durham this summer. Tyvien McLean, 12, a sixth-grader at Lowe’s Grove Middle School, died in July.

The night McLean was shot, 10 people, including two other children, ages 3 and 8, were injured by gun violence in two shooting incidents in Durham.

As of Sept. 1, a total of 26 children under the age of 18 had been shot in Durham this year, according to the Durham Police Department’s Crime Analysis Unit.

A 16-year-old was shot over the weekend in Durham. His injuries were serious, but he is now in stable condition, police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said in an email.

The N&O several times has requested the 911 call and the calls for service history for the address where Harris was killed, but the police department has not provided the information.

Stubbs, meanwhile, said she has been trying to keep herself busy and leaning on family and friends. But she sees her son’s’ smile everywhere. Everything in the apartment reminds her of him.

Stubbs dedicated a play to Harris when he was getting bullied in elementary school. She plans to write a new play one day about losing him.

There isn’t much left in Stubbs’ kitchen. She cleaned out all the cooking supplies her son used from her fridge last week. No one has cooked in the house since.

This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 5:45 AM.