Facebook feud led to 15-year-old’s death, now family wants accused twins to pay

Demarcus Redmond was near his mother’s house on South Fifth Street in Madison on July 8 when he and his best friend, Kendall White, were hit suddenly by flying bullets.

Both have recovered from the physical wounds, but Redmond is left grieving the death of his younger cousin, 15-year-old Omarion Coleman, who was killed in the same flurry of gunfire.

The Major Case Squad of Greater St. Louis has since charged twin brothers, Torion and Corion Mosley, both of Madison, with charges of first-degree murder. Investigators say the shooting was prompted by a social media feud between the twin brothers, Coleman, Redmond and White.

Redmond said Coleman, who family and friends called “Odie,” wasn’t involved in the feud, but paid a tragic and unwarranted price.

“We was trying to sell his phone,” Redmond said. “When I went to his house he wasn’t there. He called me and told me Torion pulled a gun on him. I said ‘here I come.’ I rode down there on my bike and I heard beefing. Somebody told them Odie was trying to jack them.

“I got to arguing with his brother over some dumb stuff that was on Facebook last year. Torion gave the gun to Corion. I saw Corion point the gun at Odie’s head. I saw him shoot at Odie. Everybody took off running. I got shot in the leg. He was still shooting. He shot until he ran out of bullets.”

Redmond says he’s “shocked” and “messed up” by the shooting. But he’s at a loss for why his cousin was targeted.

“My little cousin was shot and killed. I saw him down on the ground bleeding. How do you think it feels?” Redmond said. “I saw my cousin get shot. I feel like it is my fault.

“Odie was always with me. I always kept him with me. He didn’t have anything to do with anything.”

As for Torion and Corion Mosley, Redmond is anxious to wash his hands of them.

“We all grew up together I have been knowing them since the eight grade. I hope they rot in jail. We want justice done. Our family plans to be in court every time they come to court,” Redmond said.

Martisha Coleman, Omarion’s mother, is relieved that the brothers were caught, but that does little to ease the grief she carries for her slain son, whose funeral was held Saturday at Pilgrim Green Missionary Baptist Church in East St. Louis.

She said she is “breathless” and is “clueless” about how to move her life forward, but knows she has to continue to fight on behalf of her surviving children.

“Unless you are in this situation you can not know the pain it brings,” Coleman said. “My child is dead. He was just 15-years old. It is senseless. He had his whole life to live.”

Omarion was a student at Coolidge Middle School, but was preparing to go to Granite City High School.

The tragic news of his death was delivered to his mother in a phone call from a family friend.

“I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t believe it,” she said through tears.

Coleman wants the twin brothers to pay for what they did.

“I am happy they are not on the street. They won’t have the chance to shoot and kill anybody else,” she said. “My son is dead. He is not coming back. He is too young to be gone. Whatever the situation was, it didn’t have to be solved with guns,” Coleman said.

Both the victims and perpetrators of violence in St. Clair County are getting younger, which Coleman says is “very troublesome.”

She wants authorities to do whatever the can to get the guns off of the streets and out of the hands of the children.

“These grown men are giving these young people these guns, I believe,” she said.

Coleman said didn’t know her son had issues with anyone, but whatever problems there may have been could have been solved without gun violence. She still doesn’t know the twins or the reason they shot and killed Omarion.

Coleman has 17- and 8-year-old sons and a 16-year old daughter. All are distraught by the murder of their brother, she said.

“They really have nobody to hang with no more. My daughter said she doesn’t have anybody to argue with no more. He always took her shoes and he would take a picture with the shoes on and she’d fall out,” Coleman said.

Coleman described her son as “bubbly,” and the kind of person who got along with everybody

“Omarion bought the younger kids icy cups. He took them to the store and to the park. He loved the kids,” Coleman said.

He liked football, designer clothes and pulling pranks on his sister.

Yasmine Coleman, Omarion’s aunt, said her nephew was looking forward to turning 16 so he could get a job and driver’s license.

“He was was the typical normal kid. He was a hustler and cut grass to earn money,” she said. “He was always happy anytime you saw him and he always took the smaller children to the park and bought snacks for them.”

This story was originally published August 6, 2019 at 5:00 AM.