As James Short lay dying in a hospital bed, he asked a social worker if she would call his mother.

She did, but Debra Short was already asleep. She awoke late Sunday to a message that would herald the start of a long and trying day -- the worst day in a mother's life.

"She said point blank, 'There's no easy way for me to tell you this,' " Ms. Short said. " 'Your son has been shot in the back.' "

She rushed to UPMC Presbyterian, her uncle and her pastor by her side. Mr. Short, 35, had been in surgery. His injuries, his mother was told, were severe.

"When we got upstairs, the doctor wanted to speak to me," Ms. Short said. "The doctor said my son had passed away 12 minutes ago."

Mr. Short was a passenger in his girlfriend's car when he was shot in Homewood about 10:20 p.m. The woman's 8-year-old son and 5-year-old daughter were in the backseat. No one else was hurt.

Police were called to the 7600 block of Bennett Street, where they found Mr. Short wounded in the car. They offered no motive, but said the shooting likely happened as they drove past the intersection of North Braddock Avenue and Formosa Way. The gunfire took place in an area where police have ramped up patrols after a spate of recent shootings. They had made no arrests as of Monday.

Ms. Short's shock intensified as her son's girlfriend recounted for her the night. She said they were heading to her house in Homewood, returning from a visit with friends in Westmoreland County.

"All of the sudden some shots rang out," Ms. Short said. "She started to accelerate to get away from the scene. That's how she ended up on Bennett Street."

When she realized he'd been hit, she called 911.

"Everyone involved is just traumatized," Ms. Short, of Garfield, said.

She last saw her son about two weeks ago, but they spoke by phone more often. "Jim-Jim," as his mother called him, had been living with his father in West Mifflin, working a string of temporary jobs since moving back last year from the South, where he had been since he was 19. There, he had three children from a previous marriage.

"A lot of people are affected by this loss," Ms. Short said. "I never thought or imagined that I would bury my children. ... I just hope no other mother has to shed a tear over their child being lost to violence."

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