Francis’ Death Leaves Heartbreak in Its Wake

In the same Glen Oaks High library where last year she proudly watched her son Ryan sign a national letter of intent to attend USC on a basketball scholarship, Paulette Francis met with reporters Thursday and lamented the loss of an only child who was “all I had.”

Wearing a white T-shirt featuring a picture of Ryan driving for a layup and occasionally pausing to dab her eyes with tissue, Paulette spoke poignantly about her son, who had won the starting job as USC’s point guard as a freshman.

Ryan, 19, was shot and killed early Saturday morning while riding in a car with friends about a mile from his home.

“I was so, so proud of him for what he had accomplished in the short time that he had been here,” said Paulette, a single mother whose shirt bore the words, “In loving memory of Ryan Francis” and, “Don’t be crying. Smile like I used to.”

Francis and his mother had planned to attend church together last Sunday in celebration of Mother’s Day the morning after he was shot.

“I told him to make sure he brings his shoes and his suit home [from school] so he could go to church,” Paulette recalled, her voice cracking.

Instead, Ryan’s funeral will be this Saturday. USC received permission from the NCAA to pay for it plus the travel expenses of his Trojans teammates, who all are expected to attend morning services here at Greater King David Baptist Church.

USC Coach Tim Floyd, who attempted to soothe Paulette during her meeting with reporters, called the bond between Ryan and his mother “as close a mother-son relationship as I’ve ever had on any team.

“He loved his mother and she did a wonderful, wonderful job with him.”

Paulette and her son spoke by phone as many as six times a day and she drove from Baton Rouge to Los Angeles twice to be with him.

She recently left her job at a gas station and had planned to move to Southern California to be closer to her son for his sophomore season.

Paulette had celebrated Ryan’s return from his first year of college on May 9 by cooking his favorite meal, a chicken dish. But they didn’t get to spend too much quality time together in the next few days because Ryan was busy playing basketball with old high school teammates.

“ ‘Hey, mom, how you doing? Going to play basketball,’ ” Paulette said, briefly smiling as she recalled her son’s typically cheerful exit line.

Ryan spent Saturday afternoon playing basketball with friends before showering and going to see several other buddies who were home for the summer.

He was supposed to get a ride home from Torry Beaulieu, a former Glen Oaks teammate, but instead got into the car of another man who lived closer to Francis’ home.

Police have arrested DeAnthony Norman Ford, 19, of Baton Rouge on suspicion of first-degree murder in connection with Francis’ death. He has not been charged, but is being held without bail in the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

Police say Ford had an on-going dispute with the man driving the car in which Francis was a passenger and fired multiple shots into the vehicle. Francis was struck three times in the back and once in the hip and died about a half hour later at a trauma center.

At Glen Oaks on Thursday, the marquee on the front lawn read, “We love you Ryan Francis,” and trees and school doors were adorned with balloons and red-and-white ribbons. A homeowner across the street had taped a sign on the garage in large white letters reading, “R.I.P. Ryan. Gone ... But Never Forgotten.”

Glen Oaks Principal Wilbert C. August Jr. said school officials were considering retiring Francis’ jersey No. 12 and establishing a scholarship fund in his honor. A year after leading the school to a 36-0 record and Class 4-A state basketball title, Francis prompted several administrators to adopt USC as a favorite team, even deep in the heart of Louisiana State country.

“Some people would get his schedule to keep up with the USC games and they would come into work [and say], ‘Did you see the game last night? Ryan had 12 points,’ ” August said. “We were all proud of him.”

Francis verbally committed to Louisiana Lafayette before switching his allegiance to USC once Floyd started recruiting him late in his senior year.

“After Tim came he just felt it was an opportunity to go to a bigger university, and that’s what he wanted,” Paulette said.

“I said, ‘You can’t go, you’re my baby.’ He said, ‘No, I’m your man.’ ”

Francis and sophomore swingman Nick Young, a distant cousin, were the only players to start all 30 games for the Trojans, who posted their first winning record in four years and recorded upset victories over nationally ranked North Carolina, Arizona and UCLA.

Francis, who was a couple of inches shorter than his listed 5 feet 11, averaged 7.1 points, 3.7 assists and 1.6 steals, ranking in the top 10 in the Pacific 10 Conference in the latter two categories.

“He was excited, but he thought they could have done better,” Paulette said. “The first time they lost, I think it broke his heart. He realized that they can lose, and he don’t like losing.”

Francis had planned to stay in Baton Rouge for about a month before returning to Los Angeles to get ready for his sophomore season. Though Paulette said she kept close tabs on her son while he was in high school in part because she feared for his safety -- “I had to take the car keys and said, ‘Just stay home and let’s play cards,’ ” she recalled -- she acknowledged giving him more leeway recently.

“When I got the phone call I just knew,” Paulette said. “At 2:30 in the morning when somebody calls you, you automatically just jump up.... I knew something was wrong.”