EXCLUSIVE: Mother of Brooklyn babysitter killed speaks to Eyewitness News

EAST FLATBUSH, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The senseless murder of a teenage babysitter in Brooklyn this week stunned the city. While a suspect has been arrested and charged, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Now, the mother of that babysitter is speaking exclusively to Eyewitness News as she tries to come to grips with the loss of her child.

Lovern Williams got a phone call informing her that her only daughter had been killed. 16-year-old Shemel Mercurious was shot to death Tuesday night while babysitting a young cousin.

24-year-old Taariq Stephens is now charged with using a submachine gun to kill Mercurious, and investigators say Stephens was seen on surveillance in the building's elevator with the .40 caliber weapon in his backpack when the babysitter opened the door. Detectives say Stephens fired a series of shots, killing her.

"The police force to ask him the reason why? The reason why?" Williams said, dropping her head in her hands.

The distraught mother spoke from her home in Guyana, explaining she sent Mercurious to New York for a chance at a better life. Now, she is left trying to explain her death to her other children.

"Day and night, day and night - 'what happened?', 'why?, you know? I can't explain properly to them," Williams adds.

Williams, who is a veteran police officer in Guyana, says she is currently going through the process of getting a visa to come to the United States. Once she is here, she will make the arrangements for her child's burial, and will hopefully get more answers in connection with her murder.