Mother of fatally shot Birmingham teen was with him ‘until he took his last breath’

Courtney Brown held her son until he took his last breath.

Gerald Andre Lomax Jr., affectionately known as G.A., was pronounced dead at UAB Hospital at 11:58 a.m. Wednesday.

It was a little more 12 hours after he was shot in the head while leaving a basketball game at Woodlawn High School.

“I told him that I loved him and that I was very proud of him,’’ Brown said through her tears, “and that he made me so proud. I promised I would take care of his brother and sister.”

Lomax was a senior at Jackson-Olin High School where he played football, basketball, and excelled in school.

Gun violence was not something Brown expected to ever touch her family.

“Every time there was another killing, I would say, ‘It’s getting so close. It’s getting closer and closer to home,’’ she said. “When I got that call…I can’t make sense of it.”

“He was sunshine in a dark room,’’ she said. “He lit up people’s lives.”

The shooting happened just before 10 p.m. Tuesday following the Woodlawn vs. Jackson-Olin basketball game held at Woodlawn.

Brown said her son was at the game with a friend, though she said he had an unexplained, uneasy feeling about being there.

He left briefly to go sit in his friend’s car, but then returned to the game.

When they were leaving, a group of guys saw Lomax and his friend.

“They had mistaken them for some guys that they were into it with,’’ Brown was told. “They blocked his friend, and G.A. grabbed his friend and said, ‘This is not what we do, let’s go.’’'

They continued walking to their vehicle.

“I’ve always kept my son away from anything like that so he’s not thinking to be checking his surroundings thinking someone might follow him or anything like that,’’ Brown said.

Woodlawn High School Shooting Nov. 12, 2024 — More than 50 shots were fired Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2024, during a fight following a basketball game at Woodlawn High School.(Special to AL.com)

As Lomax and his friend started to drive away, someone opened fire on their vehicle.

At least 50 shots were fired in the 5400 block of Second Avenue North.

“My baby was hit three times, once in each arm and in the back of the head,’’ Brown said.

Lomax’s friend drove to the front of the school seeking safety and help, and it was only then he realized Lomax had been hit.

“He looked and noticed my baby was unresponsive in the seat next to him,’’ she said. “That’s when the police came.”

Brown, a Birmingham native who now lives in Tennessee, was awakened about 11 p.m. with the news in a phone call from her sister.

She rushed to Birmingham, arriving at UAB Hospital about 4 a.m.

“They had already told me that the machines were keeping him alive for us to get back and say goodbye,’’ she said.

Brown and other family members stayed with Lomax until he was removed from life support.

“I laid there with my baby until he took his last breath so I know it’s true, but I can’t make sense of it,’’ Brown said. “He was so sweet, and he didn’t mess with anybody.”

The teen’s death is a blow to all who knew and loved him.

“When he was small, he was so timid,’’ Brown said. “When we would introduce him to new people, he would stand behind my leg and hide.”

Brown and her son’s father, Gerald Lomax Sr., put him in youth football in Wenonah.

“His coaches, they brought him out of his shell and made him into the young man that I have seen so much love from,’’ she said. “So many people loved him, and he had become the smartest young man.”

Lomax was a driven teen.

“These past couple of years, G.A. has been doing amazing in school, playing sports and working,’’ Brown said. “Anytime anybody would ask me how he was doing I was like, ‘He’s doing so awesome.’’'

Lomax worked to be able to buy the things he wanted.

“I would ask him, ‘What do you need?’’' Brown said. “He would be like, ‘Don’t worry about it, Mama, I got it.’’

Asked what drove him, Brown said, “He wanted to make us proud.”

Lomax was looking forward to graduating from high school but had not firmed up what his plans looked like afterward.

He had mentioned going to college and maybe studying communications.

“It was just so funny to all of us,’’ his mom said with a laugh, “because for the most part he didn’t communicate with us.”

Brown is saddened by the increase in violence.

“I remember being able to leave the door unlocked and feel safe to be outside playing,’’ she said. “Once I started raising kids, in my mind, it was time for a change.”

That’s when she moved to Tennessee. Lomax stayed in Birmingham with his father so he would not be alone.

Asked what she wants her son’s legacy to be, Brown said, “Peace. He never liked confrontation.”

“He loved everybody,’’ she said. “His smile could change everything about the day.”