Javits Frimpong’s mother has received approval to travel from Ghana for her son’s burial.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani says Trump approved urgent travel permission so Javits Frimpong’s mother can travel from Ghana to bury her son.
US President Donald Trump has agreed to grant a visa to the mother of a Ghanaian teen killed in New York. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the decision followed his direct appeal to the president.
The permission will allow Javits Frimpong’s mother to travel from Ghana to bury her 15-year-old son. Frimpong died after a shooting in the Bronx on October 29.
Mayor seeks visa for Ghanaian teen’s mother
Mamdani announced the decision on X after speaking with Trump by phone. He said he had asked the president to secure emergency travel permission for the grieving mother.
In his message, the mayor described the anguish of losing a child while thousands of miles away. He also said Frimpong’s mother deserved the chance to say goodbye to her son in person.
Mamdani said Trump agreed to grant the visa immediately, adding that New York City shared the family’s grief. Meanwhile, community leaders, immigrant advocacy groups and celebrities expressed condolences and called for justice. Comedian Michael Blackson and rapper Cardi B were among those who shared messages.
Police search for suspects in Bronx shooting
Frimpong had moved from Ghana about a year earlier to live with his father in New York. The DreamYard Prep student was walking to school at around 9.24am when the attack happened.
Three masked suspects reportedly chased him before shooting him once in the stomach near East 171st Street and Crotona Place. They wore black tracksuits. Frimpong collapsed near a local hospital and later died from his injuries.
His father and school officials also said the teenager had recently experienced bullying. Two students reportedly received suspensions days before the shooting. However, authorities have not established a connection between the bullying and the fatal attack.
Police continue to investigate the killing and search for the three suspects.
