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Doris Adu Gyamfi departed Ghana on November 4 after receiving an expedited visa and landed in New York where she told reporters she wanted justice for her son, according to reports from Graphic Online and YEN.com.gh. Gyamfi, who was accompanied by relatives and officials from Ghana’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the airport in Accra, said she planned to help organize her son’s funeral while thanking the government and well-wishers for their support. The mother described Javits as a boy who had dreamed of becoming a medical doctor, a detail she shared with BBC News before her departure. Ghana’s government has committed to funding her travel and contributing to a dignified funeral, Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa announced on October 31.
Javits Frimpong was fatally shot in the abdomen shortly before 9:30 a.m. on October 29 near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont section of the Bronx as he walked to DreamYard Preparatory School, the New York Daily News reported. Three masked individuals chased the teenager, shot him once and fled the scene, with surveillance footage showing the pursuit and the attackers later jumping a subway turnstile to board a southbound train, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Frimpong was transported to St. Barnabas Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The incident occurred one day after the one-year anniversary of his arrival in the United States from Ghana to live with his father, Thomas Frimpong.
New York police have not made any arrests six days after the shooting and are investigating three possible motives, including robbery, mistaken identity or bullying at school, the New York Daily News and 3News Ghana reported. Kenny told local outlets that the attackers had lingered in Crotona Park before approaching Frimpong, who dropped his backpack as he ran, though that item was later stolen by someone else and has not been recovered. The NYPD has appealed for information through Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS. Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson visited a growing memorial of candles and flowers at the site on November 3 and posted on X that Javits was a son of Ghana and that the tragedy felt personal.
Frimpong had recently written in his diary about his determination to succeed in America and avoid bad influences, with entries noting that his family motivated him not to associate with troublesome peers, according to the New York Daily News which obtained the journal. The 10th-grader was described by his father as clever and quiet, and by relatives as someone who kept to himself while focusing on his studies. Thomas Frimpong, a cab driver who has lived in New York since around 2000, informed the boy’s mother in Ghana immediately after the shooting. The family had hoped the move would bring greater opportunities, a point echoed in a statement from the Ghana diaspora public affairs collective reported by The Guardian.
Ghanaian authorities have condemned the killing and vowed to pursue accountability through close coordination with U.S. officials, Ablakwa stated in multiple updates released between October 31 and November 4. The minister credited interventions by New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and President Donald Trump for expediting the visa process at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, which processed applications for Gyamfi and her niece in a single day. Ablakwa added that Ghana stands ready to provide legal and consular assistance while continuing to monitor the investigation. Officials from Ghana’s mission in New York were scheduled to meet Gyamfi upon her arrival to offer further support.
The case has drawn attention across Ghana and among diaspora communities in the United States, with tributes highlighting Frimpong’s aspirations and the circumstances of his short time in the country, as covered by Modern Ghana and GhanaWeb. No funeral date has been publicly confirmed, though planning is underway with family members now gathering in New York. Gyamfi reiterated her central demand in statements to local media upon departure and after landing, focusing solely on accountability for those responsible.
