Family, friends and local residents continue to search for reasons why 13-year-old Judah Agyemang jumped to his death from his family’s apartment on the 21st floor of Tracey Towers, a high-rise residential complex on Mosholu Parkway.

Police have not officially classified the case as a suicide, but from talking with family and acquaintances, it is clear Judah took his own life. But why? Details of the events leading up to his death offer only partial clues. 

On Monday, Nov. 9, at around 4:30 in the afternoon, Judah was sent home early from an after-school program at his school, Our Lady of Angels, which is run by a group called Camp Interactive.
Instructors said the youngster was exhibiting unusual behavior. “He wasn’t making much sense in what he was saying,” Jesus Galvez told the Daily News, the day after his death. “He was engaged and then disengaged.” He added, “It wasn’t his normal behavior.”

Judah’s mother, Augustina Agyemang, met her son in front of Tracey Towers and the two went up to their apartment on the 21st floor. According to friends of the family who have spoken with the mother, Judah wanted to go play basketball, his favorite sport. But his mother told him he needed to eat something before he could play and began cooking some rice and soup in the kitchen.

While cooking, Augustina Agyemang heard the door to the balcony slam and immediately rushed over to the balcony. She told family members that she saw Judah tumbling to the ground. In her rush to get down the stairs (the elevator wasn’t coming quickly enough), she fractured her foot, said Judah’s aunt, Mary Boakye.

He landed just 20 feet away from the entrance to the building. When paramedics arrived soon after, they pronounced Judah dead at the scene.

The family and his school community have been mourning ever since. On Tuesday, grief counselors talked with Judah’s classmates and teachers at Our Lady of Angels. On Friday night, residents at Tracey broke into groups to discuss the tragedy with counselors from Montefiore Medical Center and Bronx Lebanon Hospital.

Our Lady of Angels principal Sister Mary Cleary said Judah was a good kid and an average student. She said “he had an absolutely beautiful smile” and “was very friendly, he had a lot of friends.”
The family is holding a wake on Friday afternoon at Ortiz Funeral Home on Fordham Road and the Grand Concourse.