HOUSTON — Veronica Robertson said she felt something was amiss shortly before learning early Monday morning that her oldest son was dead.
"I couldn't sleep at all," Robertson said. "Then, my middle son called me and said, 'Mom, Traveon’s been murdered.'”
Houston police said 31-year-old Liquorian Traveon Robertson was gunned down as he sat in his car at the Diamond Inn on the Gulf Freeway near Hobby Airport.
In a surveillance image, the gunman was seen wearing a red and white mask.
"They say he was sitting in the car, been laughing and talking with everybody at the hotel, motel over there," Robertson said. "And say he was sitting there, and somebody just walked up with a clown mask on and shot him 10 times.”
Robertson admitted her son, a father of five, had a history of criminal behavior and began to slide down the wrong path following the murder of his brother five years ago. He was the first son she lost to gun violence -- in addition to three of her brothers -- since 1993.
"Three brothers and two sons," Robertson said. "This is my second son.”
Robertson compared her life to a book. In fact, she was planning to publish one about her struggles and how to get through them before this latest tragedy.
“I’m still processing it, but I’m the type of mother, my faith and my belief is in God," Robertson said. "And I believe if God brought me to it, he’ll bring me through it.”
She said she hopes God helps lead the masked man wanted for killing her oldest to justice. In addition to a clown mask, police said he wore a dark hoodie but may be bald. He was last seen leaving the scene on foot heading northbound on the Gulf Freeway feeder.