MOM’S HEARTBREAK: Inconsolable Jennifer Brooks is comforted by another son yesterday. (Tomas E. Gaston)
(
)
A bright Bronx teen, who was a regular on his high-school honor roll, was found fatally shot yesterday in the neighborhood park where he often went to play tennis.
Kemar Bryan Brooks, 14, was found dead with a bullet to the back of his head by his father shortly before 6 a.m. in Haffen Park on Bruner and Burke avenues, cops said.
“My heart dropped,” said dad Cassell Brooks, 50. “There was no sign of this [happening]. He was a brilliant kid. He was not a child who was ever in trouble. He was an A student.”
Cops found five shell casings in a basketball court adjacent to where Kemar went to play tennis Thursday night, a law-enforcement source said.
Neighbors said they heard four to five gunshots between 8 and 9 p.m.
His dad grew concerned at about 11 p.m. on Thursday when his son, who would often stay out late playing tennis, didn’t come home hours after going to the Baychester park.
He first scanned the perimeter of the park just across the street from his home at about 3 a.m. but didn’t find Kemar.
A couple of hours later, Cassell Brooks checked again and found the teen lying on his side, his tennis bags and rackets next to him.
“He was the best kid you could ask for,” Brooks said. “He had a bright future. He was exceptional. Why him?”
No arrests were made yesterday, sources said.
Kemar — the youngest of five siblings — came to the United States with his family two years ago from Jamaica.
He was a ninth-grader at the Bronx Academy of Health Careers, where he was an honor-roll student, bowler and avid tennis player.
“He was quick on his feet and liked to debate [sports],” said Bevin Turnbull, 61, who often lent the teen tennis rackets. “This is a shock to me.”
Kemar would often go to church with his dad, a deacon at the Gospel Assembly Church of Jesus Christ Apostolic in The Bronx.
One of his older sisters cried hysterically yesterday as relatives gathered outside their home.
Outside, teary-eyed family members put together a display showcasing trophies, honor-roll pins and photos of Kemar and his collection of tennis rackets.
“He was just loved,” said cousin Mark Brooks, 24. “He was anything you could ask for in a kid.”
Advocates decried the gunplay.
“Violence in our parks and playgrounds has exploded over the last few weeks,” said Geoffrey Croft of NYC Park Advocates.
Additional reporting by Douglas Montero and Pedro Oliveira Jr.