In Mattapan, she mourns for her son, slain at 17
Mariotis Harris's mother, Mai Prowd-Harris, last saw her son early Friday as she was leaving for work. He was to spend the day looking for a summer job with his father, she said.
Prowd-Harris, a Liberian immigrant, sobbed yesterday as she recalled her 17-year-old son's recent efforts to turn his life around. He had recently enrolled in a high school equivalency program at the Egleston Square YMCA branch and was hoping to apply to college, she said.
"The Lord is holding my baby; yes, he is," Prowd-Harris wailed as she sat on her living room sofa , surrounded by framed portraits of her son and Jesus.
Harris's body was found early Sunday in a wooded area down the street from the home he grew up in on Lorna Road in Mattapan. He had been shot to death, police said, making him the city's 25th homicide victim of the year, exactly on pace with last year.
Harris's mother said he dropped out of The Engineering School, a Hyde Park vocational school, but had recently told her he wanted to finish his education. He was talented with electronics, she said, and could fix anything.
Mariotis recently picked up an application for Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, a South End college specializing in engineering and technology, she said.
"He said, 'I've been reflecting on my life; I can do better than this,' " Prowd-Harris recalled. "I told him, 'Mario, you know you can do better. It is inside of you. You have a lot of potential.' "
Harris's path to realizing that potential started at the Y, his mother said, but she noticed that he seemed uneasy when leaving school Wednesday night. He called and asked her to leave Bible study to pick him up, she said.
Still, Prowd-Harris said she is stunned that her son was targeted, because he had no problems that she was aware of.
However, Jonathan Palumbo, a spokesman for the Boston public schools, said Harris had been in the custody of the Department of Youth Services for several months. He would not elaborate, and a DYS spokesman declined comment.
DYS has several levels of supervision, including in-custody and at-home monitoring.
A law enforcement official with knowledge of the case said Harris was shot from behind.
Yesterday, Harris's mother begged anyone with knowledge of her son's killing to come forward, though she said that even if her son's killer is not caught by authorities, there will be other consequences. "No matter how long it takes, it will come to light," she said. "They can run from me, but they can't run from God."
Police identified two suspects yesterday in an unrelated homicide investigation. They are seeking two men in the May 15 slaying of Cordeiro Andrade, 20, of Roxbury, in the Franklin Field housing development.
Jovon Adams, 22, of Dorchester, and Taquise Johnson, 18, of Roxbury, are being sought in the fatal shooting, which also wounded a female bystander.
Adams is described as black, 5-feet-8 inches tall, 180 pounds, with brown eyes and black hair. His last known address was on Wales Street in Dorchester. Johnson is described as black, 6 feet tall, 150 pounds. Police did not provide an address for Johnson.
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com. 