A Family Mourns

Jamaal Freeman is Buried as Police Ask the Public for Help in Finding the Second Driver Who Hit Him

By Daniel Rivera, Editorial Intern

The church fell quiet as a grieving mother, Annie Stafford, walked onto the podium to give a eulogy for her son, who she could not lay eyes on during his closed-casket funeral. Her son, Jamaal Freeman, was killed in a hit-and-run in Carson on the way to his gym on Jan. 3. He was hit by two separate drivers in the early morning, and he was left there for some time. 

Jamaal was born on Jan. 13, 1988, and went to various schools around LA County. He grew up playing video games with his brothers. During the ceremony, one of his brothers, Phillip Robinson, reminisced about when they played Nintendo together as kids. He went to El Camino Community College to learn game design, while also working at Best Buy where he could be surrounded by the games he loved, all while also attending the gym. 

Freeman was described as a quiet and caring man. He was often characterized as a lover of video games along with having a deep love for his family, especially his mother. During the funeral his family told many stories about his caring acts. 

“He was quiet, but he was a man of action … he did what he set out to do, take care of his mom and his household,” his cousin Melitta Johnson said. 

A common sentiment was his love for his mother, like how he, unprompted, would help her with monthly bills. 

His mother told a story about him. She told him that if he could not find her at home when he woke up, he should call the police. One morning, she would find cops at her door because Jamaal couldn’t find her immediately upon waking up because she was outside. 

At the end of her eulogy, she said she would miss calling his name, she would miss yelling at him, that she would miss him. 

“I saw him for the first time since the accident and I didn’t want to leave him, I knew it would be the last time,” his brother Phillip said near the end of his speech. 

Phillip said he liked to stay indoors, something that persisted into his adulthood. While he did prefer to be inside, he was known as being kind and having an optimistic outlook on life. 

This outlook extended to all those around him. He cared about strangers and loved meeting new people. Freeman would often meet new people on the bus. He did not drive due to an accident that scared him out of it. 

“His mom got into an accident when he was a child,” Johnson said. “He made it up in his mind he didn’t want to drive.” 

Since then, he used the bus because he never wanted to be in an accident like that again. 

“I love taking the bus, love the people on the bus,” Natalie Chun said that she was told this by Jamaal. 

Natalie was his neighbor and friend, they would ride the bus together and often spend time together as friends. She described how they helped rescue dogs and how they would track and watch the International Space Station as it orbited overhead. 

Freeman was hit by two separate cars. The first driver later turned himself in while the second remained at large. Jamaal died at the scene on Jan. 3. The Carson City Police put a post up on Facebook asking anyone to come forward with information that can lead to an arrest. The Carson City Council announced on Feb. 7. that it will be putting out a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and capture of the second driver.