Jumar Carvery, the 21-year-old man shot and killed near Uniacke Square on the weekend, was just starting to get his life together, a family member said.
“He had made a conscious decision that he wanted to be a better person and be a responsible citizen, and he was taking steps to do that,” his cousin Irvine Carvery said.
Jumar, known to friends and family as Maury, had problems but was learning how to deal with them, Irvine Carvery said.
Police heard shots coming from a field just north of Uniacke Square soon after midnight Saturday and found Jumar with serious gunshot wounds. He was transported to the QEII Health Sciences Centre and succumbed to his injuries soon after.
Police held the scene near Olympic Court and Sunrise Walk for most of the weekend and Staff Sgt. Sean Auld with the Halifax Regional Police said yesterday there were no suspects in custody.
Irvine Carvery had known the young man since he was a baby and coached him in basketball at St. Patrick’s High School. He said Jumar was well-liked and a talented basketball player who was looked up to by his teammates and friends.
The athlete and father of two had just enrolled in an employment counselling program at the YMCA and was trying to gain custody of his four-year-old daughter.
His mother, Susan Carvery, was devastated when she learned of her son’s death, Irvine Carvery said.
“She’s just in shock,” he said. “He was a mama’s boy.”
