The heartbroken mother of a Queens teen shot to death while eating dinner with friends in a car in a McDonald’s parking lot can finally sleep at night now that the accused killer has been nabbed.
“You see me smiling today because I’m relieved because they caught the suspect,” said victim Akim Cisse’s mother at the family’s Springfield Gardens home six blocks from the McDonald’s.
Rayvon Phillip was arrested Wednesday for allegedly shooting 18-year-old Cisse to death five days earlier.
“My husband and I, we’re able to sleep. That was the first time” the 45-year-old mom, who did not want to share her name, said Thursday in an exclusive interview. “The longest sleep we had since Akim died was two hours.”
Phillip, also 18, was on probation after serving time in jail for gun possession when he allegedly killed Cisse, prosecutors said Thursday. The accused teen is charged with murder and weapon possession.
“Akim Cisse lost his life because of this defendant, who is a member of a known street gang,” Assistant District Attorney Barry Frankenstein said during Phillip’s arraignment in Queens Criminal Court Thursday.
The victim turned 18 just four days before he was killed. His mother gave his cash and cologne.
“We celebrated here. We got a cake on Monday. And on Friday I got a call that my son was shot,” said Cisse’s mother. “I just threw the cake away yesterday.”
Cisse was sitting in a vehicle with three friends eating in the parking lot of the McDonald’s after exiting the drive through when Phillip allegedly opened fire from the doorway of the eatery. Only Cisse, sitting in the front passenger seat, was struck.
Three .380 shell casings were later recovered by cops at the scene on South Conduit Ave. and 222nd St.
“One of those bullets struck Mr. Cisse’s in the back of the head, immediately causing him brain damage and then ultimately taking his life,” Frankenstein said in court. “This incident is captured completely on video from that McDonald’s, including this defendant’s face.”
Phillip’s defense attorney Matthew Thomas said his client “adamantly denies the allegations.” Judge Edward Daniels ordered Phillip held without bail.
Cisse, an avid basketball player since the age of 6, is survived by two older sisters and an 11-year-old brother.
The victim’s mother nearly called him the evening he was slain, like she does every night, but didn’t because she was having chest pains and so was lying down praying.
“My heart was beating because I have high blood pressure. So I was afraid, I thought I was getting a heart attack. I didn’t even know about Akim yet. My heart was racing and it was burning,” she said. “I was so scared. There’s nothing I could do.”
Less than an hour later one of the friend who was in the vehicle with Cisse when he was shot called.
“He told me Akim’s heart was beating fast. Then it stopped,” she said.
The friends heard gunfire but at first didn’t realize Cisse was struck in the head.
“They see that Akim is not getting up,” his mother said. “He’s not talking. He’s not responding.”
The friends drover Cisse to Long Island Jewish Hospital.
The mom grabbed her 11-year-old son took an Uber to the hospital, happening to pass the crime scene on the way.
“I passed by McDonald’s and I saw all of the detectives standing around,” she said. “That brought tears to my eyes. Because seeing an investigation going on for my son, that was hard to take. That was very hard to take. My (other) son was next to me so I didn’t want to cry. He’s a child. He’s only 11. I have to be strong for him too. So everything was internally. I was processing it internally. Because that’s the only son that I have now.”
The mother soon arrived at the hospital.
“I said, ‘Doctor, please tell me. Is my son okay?’ He said, unfortunately where the bullet struck my son, it’s catastrophic,” she said.
“I said, ‘Do we have a chance for him to live?’ He looked at me and said no. Because the neurologist, the surgeon, tried everything. He said they don’t even see the bullet because it’s mixed in the blood, in the fluids… they couldn’t even do any surgery.”
Cisse died the next day.
Cops are still trying to put together a motive and are interviewing the friends Cisse was with when he was shot.
Cisse’s family decided to buck Muslim tradition and hold a viewing for the slain teen at Islamic International Funeral Services in Sunset Park Wednesday before his burial in New Jersey.
“He had so many friends. Many people wanted to see him,” his mother explained. “I could not bypass the love that his friends had for him.”
About 200 people showed up, including the victim’s principal from Transit Tech High School, his basketball coaches and a middle school teacher.
“That also healed the pain that I have because I see how many ‘sons’ I have around me — they were all Akim’s friends. I was happy to see all of them. I know he was so happy. He loved his friends. Oh my God, Akim loved his friends,” said the mom, starting to cry. “I know yesterday was one of the best days for Akim.”
After the service there was a brief holdup at the burial, attended only by men per Muslim tradition, when the funeral home misplaced the paperwork needed by the cemetery.
“I smiled,” his mother said of getting the call about the delay. “I said ‘My son doesn’t want to go’.”
Just then the detective on her son’s case called to tell her the suspect had been arrested.
“I cried. I cried of joy. I cried. I cried. I was about to faint,” the mother said. “He got justice. I think he was relieved. I was talking to him even though he’s dead. I was like, ‘You have to come and show us who did that. If you want Mommy to be healthy, if you want Mommy to be happy, you have to come and show us who did that… He did that before he was gone.”
Despite her relief at the arrest, the mother says she forgives her son’s killer.
“What can I do? My son’s not gonna come back,” she said. “I forgive (the suspect). I’m sorry for him. I don’t know what happened in his mind. I forgive his parents. As well as I’m healing, I want these parents to heal — because their son is not with them, he will be in jail.”
“My son is gone,” she added. “I told my son, forgive him.”
The slain teen planned to study electrical engineering at LaGuardia Community College in January.
“He was goofy. He was funny. He liked people to be happy around him,” the mother said. “He doesn’t have a mean side. He liked to see people happy.”
Cisse’s mother remembered her son’s “distinguished” voice and sweet nature.
“That voice is always going to be in my head. This boy was so cute and so funny,” she said. “Sometimes I just call him just to hear his voice. ‘Hey Akim, where are you?’ I always wanted him to be safe.’”
