CLARKSTON, Ga. — A community is mourning the loss of a 15-year-old soccer player shot and killed by his home, his coach said.
Similar to several of the players with the Norcross-based Kalonji Soccer Academy, Erasto Ramazan was a refugee who lived in Clarkston and was recruited to play with the academy.
"His mother is really broken, and we are trying to help her with the process of the funeral and things like that," Bruno Kalonji, the founder of KSA said. "They're very lost they don't know what to do."
Kalonji coached Ramazan and recruited him after spotting the teen playing soccer in the Clarkston area.
Ramazan was 15 years old and was killed Saturday after being shot at the Parc 1000 apartment complex along Montreal Road, according to the DeKalb County Medical Examiner. Kalonji said the teen's family lives at the apartment complex.
When he recruited Ramazan, Kalonji went to meet with the teen's mother who was at first reluctant to let her son go play for KSA, but the coach quickly developed a bond when he noticed a familiar flag in the refugee family's home.
"They're from Congo, so my country. The mother speaks Swahili, so she speaks also my native language," Kalonji said. "When I spoke in my native language because I noticed there was a flag from my country there she was like, 'You're one of us, so I give you the kids to take care of the kids.' She was very comfortable."
He soon found out that several of Ramazan's nine siblings were also talented soccer players and they, too, soon began playing at KSA. Kalonji said he often picks up and drops off the players who live in Clarkston at their homes for practices and games.
After recruiting, then coaching and often giving rides to Ramazan, Kalonji said he became very close with the teen.
"Very quiet kid, with a very good character," Kalonji recalled. "Very good character. Very polite, very respectful. Smiled all the time."
The teen dreamed of one day playing for Atlanta United and eventually the Chelsea Football Club in London.
"He had big dreams," he said. "A kid with dreams. He came to practice every day and never missed a beat."
Saturday, though, would be the last day Ramazan played soccer.
"Three o'clock, that is when we ended our game," Kalonji said. "We dropped them home as usual. So his friends were with him on that Saturday. So that is what is heartbreaking -- it is a close memory for all those guys."
Just before 9:30 p.m., the teen was shot in the head at the Parc 1000 apartment complex, according to Clarkston Police. Officers started giving the teen first aid and he was rushed to the hospital where he died, police said.
On Tuesday, the police department announced that 17-year-old Apucu Furahisha had been arrested and is facing an involuntary manslaughter charge in Ramazan's death.
The two teens knew each other and the shooting wasn't a random act of violence, according to the police department. Specifics of how the teens knew each other and how the shooting played out haven't yet been released.
Kalonji said a parent of one of Ramazan's teammates created an online fundraiser to assist the teen's family with his funeral and other expenses. People can contribute here.