‘Mommy, help me’: Mother holds dying son in her arms after stabbing

CHARLOTTE — A local mother is grieving after her 20-year-old son, Shamaree Bell-Brown, spoke his last words in her arms following a stabbing incident allegedly involving his pregnant girlfriend, Maya Jones.

PAST COVERAGE: 1 dead after stabbing in southeast Charlotte, police say

It happened at about 2 a.m. Monday at an apartment on Burkland Drive near Randolph Road in the Grier Heights neighborhood. Jones has been charged with murder and is currently in jail.

Judge Matt Newton denied bond for Jones, a decision that was met with approval from Shamaree Bell-Brown’s mother, who spoke with Channel Nine’s crime reporter, Hunter Saenz.

Arrest made in deadly southeast Charlotte stabbing, court documents say

“Shamaree meant the world to me,” said Shay Brown, his mother. “Shamaree is my heartbeat.”

The grieving mother wanted to share her son’s story.

“My son was very helpful,” she said. “He could make you laugh. He had jokes. That’s one thing he loved was to joke around a lot.”

Jones stabbed Shamaree Bell-Brown in the chest, police said.

Shay Brown witnessed the stabbing in the kitchen while trying to break them up during a fight.

“I turned the light on, and he was holding his chest, and I looked, and his shirt just started filling with blood,” she said.

1 killed in overnight stabbing in southeast Charlotte — 1 killed in stabbing in southeast Charlotte

“He said, ‘Ma! Please don’t let this happen to me. Mommy, help me,’” Shay Jones said.

The mother held her son, talking to him as he slowly started to slip away.

“Shamaree, you’re going to be OK,” Shay Brown told him. “Shamaree said, ‘I’m OK.’ My son never responded after that. I watched my baby’s life slowly leave his body on my kitchen floor.”

Shamaree Bell-Brown died at a hospital.

Jones was charged in December 2024 with simple assault and misdemeanor domestic violence, according to records. Shamaree Bell-Brown had “scratches on his chest and neck” during an argument.

Jones is now back in jail, charged with killing him.

Shamaree Bell-Brown’s mother is trying to mend her broken heart with the memories of her firstborn.

“He was full of life. He loved everyone who loved him,” she said.

Jones is about 12 weeks pregnant, and Shamaree Bell-Brown is the father.

Jones told police she was being strangled when she stabbed him, but his mother, who was there, said that didn’t happen.

WATCH BELOW: ‘Wanted to help’: Neighbors rush to save woman stabbed near Bessemer City