“He was outgoing, he was happy,” she said.

Clifford’s father, Clifford Swan Sr., said the family was planning a funeral.

“I’m just confused,” he said. He grew quiet, then added: “This hurts.”

Swan said he and Houshmand exposed Clifford to God as a little boy and took him to church. He said he warned his son to stay away from guns and those who carried guns.

“I always told him, ‘Don’t be around nobody with no gun. They might turn on you,’” Swan said.

The shooter “took my baby boy away,” Swan said.

Charges filed Friday did not give a motive for the killing. Police said detectives thought Clifford was the intended target and were investigating whether the shooting stemmed from a previous dispute.

But Clifford’s parents said some detectives they spoke with made it sound like Clifford was an innocent bystander. And Houshmand said the 13-year-old boy her son went to play with had an older brother, 17, who resembled her son — same haircut, same complexion.

Houshmand said Friday she had no answers for her son’s killing — or for any of the violence directed at young people across the St. Louis area this year.