Mother’s tribute to ‘handsome’ son shot dead in south London

The mother of a 17-year-old shot dead near his home in south London has paid tribute to her “handsome boy” who had “so much potential”.

Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton was not in a gang and aspired to be an architect, his mother said.

He was discovered with critical injuries on Warham Street in Southwark on Saturday evening, after officers were called to reports of gunshots on nearby Cooks Road shortly after 6pm.

Paramedics from the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance went to the scene, but the teenager was pronounced dead just before 7pm.

Rhyhiem’s mother, Pretana Morgan, told reporters near her home in the Brandon Estate: “I couldn’t have asked for a better son.

“My son was a very handsome boy. He’s got so much potential.”

She said he had gone to Jamaica last summer after a threat in London and had just returned to the city in February.

Tearfully, she said he had been “trying to make a difference” by learning to work with children.

“This is not life. My son’s a good boy,” she added, as she stood by a wall where Rhyhiem’s provisional driving licence, a little bag of his baby teeth, and a photo of her feeding him when he was a baby were placed.

Rhyhiem’s godmother, Lacey Main, said she believed he had been shot at by someone in a car, adding that he was a rapper and became a target because he was young.

Picture: PA. Rhyhiem Ainsworth Barton was shot in Southwark.