TikTok star Ophelia Nichols says son was dealing marijuana when he was fatally shot

In this photo illustration, the social media application logo, TikTok is displayed on the screen of an iPhone. (OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

A social media superstar is grieving the loss of her son, sharing an emotional post Tuesday. TikTok star Ophelia Nichols said her son Randon Lee was shot and killed last week at a gas station in Prichard, Alabama.

Nichols posted a video on TikTok Tuesday sharing with her 7.6 million followers that she’s "getting through it," adding that she and her family "found out a lot of stuff" they didn’t know before the 18-year-old was murdered. 

"When your children live out on their own and pay their bills and have a good job, it just doesn’t cross your mind that they would be doing anything to get themselves into trouble," Nichols said while holding back tears. 

FOX Television Stations reached out Tuesday to the Prichard Police Department for comment and more information.

Prichard police held a June 27 news conference where they shared details about the case which was posted on their official Facebook page. 

Jason Hadaway, CID of major crimes for the Prichard Police Department, said last week that Lee was shot by a suspect in a black vehicle at a gas station Friday night. 

"We noticed on video that the suspect and victim (Lee) pulled up at the pumps," Hadaway said. "The suspects got inside the victim’s vehicle, we know there was one shot. The suspect got out of the victim’s vehicle with a handgun and got back in his bike vehicle and took off."

Police said Lee drove to a gas station across the street after he was shot. First responders arrived at the scene, but they were unable to save him.

Multiple suspects have been identified in the shooting, but police are not releasing more information. Hadaway said Lee was meeting up with two of the suspects to sell them drugs at the gas station. 

Nichols, in her social media post, explained that the family was told by authorities investigating the case that it’s believed Lee was dealing marijuana. "But we’ve been told that the detectives think that marijuana was being dealt. My son was meeting there, and either they tried to rob him or they did rob him, but he was shot."

Nichols, also known as @shoelover99 or "Mama Tot," is popular on social media for spreading love and positivity to her millions of TikTok followers. 

She went on to explain that her son began to have trouble after his father died. 

"My son had a lot of trouble after his dad passed and you know it was just back and forth, just all kind of stuff. We did everything we could to keep him on the right track but this past year. Everybody thought he was because he was doing so good with everything."

She shared that the family recently held a birthday dinner for Lee and expressed how "proud they were of him" adding that "they had no idea." She added, "nobody has the right to shoot my son."

This story was reported from Washington, D.C.



 

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