A HEARTBROKEN mother spoke of the great gulf in her life after the killing of her schoolboy son, gunned down in a case of mistaken identity.
The blood-soaked body of 15-year-old Jessie James was found in a public park in Manchester&apos;s notorious Moss Side district early on Saturday.
He had been blasted three times with a semi-automatic pistol and died at the scene, his bicycle beside him.
Police say Jessie had no involvement in the local gangs engaged in a violent street war, adding that he was probably just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Yesterday his mother, Barbara Reid, 47, said: "I just feel a great gulf of loss in my life. I don&apos;t know what to do without him."
Mrs Reid, a member of a local Seventh Day Adventist church, added: "Jessie was a lively, bubbly boy who was loved by everyone.
"Everyone loved Jessie and it doesn&apos;t make sense that he&apos;s been killed."
Jessie&apos;s sister, Rosemary, 28, said: "All I feel is emptiness. We are a close family and anything that Jessie couldn&apos;t tell mum he would always tell me."
Michael Simpson, the pastor at Mrs Reid&apos;s church, said: "The community is bewildered."
Jessie was described as very active, regularly going to the gym and to watch his favourite football team, Manchester City.
Like many teenagers he loved music and was into hip hop, garage and R &apos;n&apos; B.
He was gunned down in Moss Side Community Park, near a youth club.
His mother was alerted after Jesie&apos;s friends hammered on her door less than half a mile from the park.
She dashed to where her son&apos;s body lay, but it was too late. He was already dead.
The family appealed to the community to help catch the killers.
Jessie was in his final year at Manchester Academy and studying for his GCSEs.
His favourite subject was art, although he was always fixing bikes and hoped to become an electrician.