Drug deal gone bad: Co-suspect say pills-buying teen shot dead by 'wannabe gangster'
02/16/2017 3:57 pm PST
Imagine you're driving home from the store after running a few errands, when you pass flashing lights and an active crime scene.
You text your teenage son, but he doesn't answer.
That scenario happened to one Alabama mom -- so she decided to walk over and see what was going on.
A shocking murder rocks the quiet town of Madison, Alabama.
A teenager's mother is shattered at hearing the news her son was savagely gunned down in broad daylight in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant on Dec. 26, 2016.
Cops say the brazen shooting of Jason West, 18, was carried out by two men, identified as Trevor Cantrell and Dacedric Ward.
Jason's brokenhearted mother admits her murdered son's own "character" is also being questioned: The 18-year-old had gone out to make a drug deal around three in the afternoon that day.
Crime Watch Daily Huntsville, Alabama affiliate WHNT-TV reports Ward and Cantrell lured West to the restaurant with something other than a straight-up drug deal in mind. Court records reveal Ward paid Cantrell $24 to actually set up an armed robbery. West paid the men $300 in exchange for 89 Xanax tablets.
But as soon as the money changed hands, police say, Ward pulled out a pistol and shot West once in the chest. West died in the hospital before his mother could get there.
Ward and Cantrell were re soon arrested.
According to Cantrell's statement, Ward shot West "So everyone would know he was a gangster."
The men are being charged with capital murder for the slaying of Jason West.
As of now Ward and Cantrell have not yet entered their pleas, but if convicted of capital murder, they could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole -- or the men could even face the death penalty.
Despite the searing pain she's suffering, Jason's mom is conflicted about the alleged killers meeting the same fate as her son.