Tommy “Trey” Grays III was on the edge of 18.
Grays, 17, was shot and killed on July 1 while vacationing with his family at Isla Verde beach in the town of Carolina. His uncle and his mother’s partner were also injured in the shooting.
Police said Carlos Aníbal Rosado Martínez, a 23-year-old from Toa Baja, turned himself in to authorities. He faces first-degree murder, attempted murder and other charges in a San Juan court.
In an interview with The Washington Post conducted in Spanish, Inspector Mabel Olivera said she could not comment on what led to the shooting because of the ongoing investigation. Tommy was shot near his left clavicle, she said, while his uncle was shot twice in the abdomen and his mother’s partner was shot once in the head.
Grays’s family said the incident started as an argument between Rosado Martínez and Tommy’s uncle, Aaroun Proctor, 31. Tommy tried to pull his uncle back after it became physical, his father said.
“He got his uncle and it was over,” Tommy Grays Jr. said. “But the guy came back with a gun.”
Tommy’s mother, Rhonda Proctor, was heading back to the beach when she found her son lying on his stomach in the sand.
“Tommy you were suppose to bury mommy first,” she wrote on Facebook. “I still find ways in my head where I could have prevented this.”
Rhonda Proctor said her partner, Maurice Gaines, 39, was shot trying to protect Tommy from a second bullet. Gaines was hospitalized in Puerto Rico, then flown to D.C., where he is receiving treatment at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. Aaroun Proctor was also hospitalized in Puerto Rico but is recovering at home.
Tommy was in Puerto Rico with his sister, his uncle and aunt, and his mother’s partner to celebrate his mother’s 37th birthday. After the trip, the teen planned to work at his dad’s plumbing company to save up for his dream car — a blue Chevy Camaro. It was supposed to be a summer of playing video games with his little brothers and sneaking out of the house to go to parties. Instead, Tommy’s family flew his body back to Maryland.
His mother cried in the funeral home parking lot on Monday.
“Imagine taking your son on vacation for your birthday and bringing him back in a coffin,” she said. “He was ripped away from me.”
As the oldest of six siblings, Tommy was protective by nature. He walked with his little sister Amani to buy snacks at the gas station when she didn’t want to go alone. The two would hang out in the basement, trading secrets over a bag of spicy sweet chili Doritos. Sometimes, Tommy talked about girls.
“I tried to give him love advice,” said Amani Grays, 14, laughing. “He never listened.”
Tommy loved anime and his pair of Nike Jordans. His favorite meal was his stepmother’s macaroni and cheese; once, he sneaked away with a whole pan during a family cookout. He was constantly dreaming up new plans, his best friend Marcus Sharp-Newman said, like starting a clothing brand together or becoming rappers after high school.
“We had one song,” said Sharp-Newman, 17. “He was still writing his verse.”
But for someone with so much joy and energy, there were also darker times. Tommy was battling depression, his father said, and lost a close friend to suicide last year. He was starting to feel better during the trip to Puerto Rico and loved spending time by the water.
“He texted me and said, ‘I’m coming out of my shell. I’m back, Dad,’” Grays Jr. said. “It’s so sad that right before he got to see what his true potential was, he was cut short.”
Tommy was shot at sunset. His mother put her hands on his back. She prayed for God to spare him.
As she said, “Amen,” he breathed his last.