PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Damala Badon said her son “was the light of everyone’s circle.” she said Parnell Badon Jr. was “funny, goofy, very protective, and loving, everything you would imagine a young boy growing into himself to be.”
The 18-year-old was shot and killed at Portland’s Embassy Suites Hotel near PDX on November 19.
“It was chaos. A lot of police, a lot of lights, a lot of sirens, a lot of people,” Damala told KOIN 6 News. “And from the way the police were moving we knew it was bad because no one was moving fast.”
That night Port of Portland police said 1-3 suspects fled the scene. Damala said she is not aware of any prior connection between her son and Haqq.
This week, Damariae Haqq was charged with the teen’s murder.
“How, at 8 o’clock at night, can people walk into a hotel room, just walk in, guns a-blazing and kill people, and walk right out and nobody stop them?” she asked.
Damala Badon told KOIN 6 News she feels the community needs to do more to prevent gun violence so that other mothers don’t have to bury their children.
Parnell was the oldest of 3 brothers and a good athlete that Damala described as the center of their close-knit family. She said the community must do better.
“I’ve had to bury my 18-year-old son. There’s something wrong with them,” she said. “There’s no word for losing a child. When you lose your parents, you’re an orphan. When you lose a spouse, you’re a widow. There’s no word for when you lose your child and that’s because this isn’t supposed to happen.”
The Badon family is urging anyone with any information about this case to come forward and contact authorities at 503.460.4023.
Despite the arrest of Haqq, Damala Badon feels this case is only getting started.
“There’s multiple people who are responsible, and I think that makes it even worse.”
Haqq, who pleaded not guilty to all charges including 2nd-degree murder, is expected back in court January 17.
Neither the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office nor the Port of Portland would comment on the ongoing investigation.
“This time it was my son,” Damala Badon said. “There is nothing stopping it from being your son, the next person’s son tomorrow.”