Ghana’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, James Gyakye Quayson, has met the mother of Javits Badu Nkansah Frimpong, the 15-year-old Ghanaian who was shot dead in the Bronx, New York.
Mr Quayson received Madam Doris Adu Gyamfi on behalf of the Government of Ghana, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 2 November. He offered condolences to the family and reaffirmed the government’s support during the bereavement.
The deputy minister also said Ghana’s diplomatic mission in the United States would continue engaging American authorities over the case.
He reiterated the Ministry’s “commitment to working through Ghana’s diplomatic mission in the United States to engage the relevant American authorities and ensure that the circumstances surrounding Javits’s death receive the necessary attention.”
Mr Quayson assured Madam Gyamfi that the government would maintain its support and solidarity.
Investigation into shooting
Javits was shot in the abdomen at about 9:20 a.m. on Thursday, 29 October 2026, while walking to school near East 171st Street and Crotona Place in the Claremont neighbourhood of the Bronx.
He was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Javits had moved to the United States about a year earlier to join his father, Thomas Frimpong, 60. He attended DreamYard Preparatory School and was previously a student at Adisadel College in Cape Coast.
The New York Police Department is looking for three teenage suspects, aged between 16 and 18. They were last seen wearing black clothing and blue surgical masks.
Javits’s father has told media that his son had complained of bullying at school. He also said two schoolmates had been suspended three days before the shooting. Police have not confirmed whether the reported bullying was connected to Javits’s death.
The killing has led to mourning in New York and among Ghanaian communities in Ghana and the United States. Hundreds of people took part in a march in New York, chanting “Justice for Javits”.
Tributes have been paid by Adisadel College, its old students fraternity, Santaclausians, and musicians including Sarkodie and rapper A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie.
Foreign Affairs Minister Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa has spoken to Thomas Frimpong to convey condolences from President John Dramani Mahama. Ghana’s Permanent Mission in New York has also visited the family.
Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Emmanuel Victor Smith, has called for a thorough investigation, including into the reported bullying.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani has reportedly said that US President Donald Trump agreed to grant Madam Gyamfi, who lives in Kumasi, an immediate visa to travel to New York for her son’s burial.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it would continue monitoring the case with Ghana’s Consulate in New York.
