Jalanni Pless' Mother Aims To Stop "Water Boys" in Atlanta

There’s a story circulating out of Atlanta about one of the so-called “water boys” in the city who was tragically killed.

Jalanni Pless, 18, was murdered on June 27, 2020, during a dispute over “territory” where the teenager was selling bottles of water to passing motorists. His mother, Tomeka Pless, told WSBTV that her son was killed when a 16-year-old said he infringed on the space where he was peddling the water and wanted the $10 that Jalanni made in sales.

A shoving match ensued and half-an-hour later Jalanni was dead.

“The motorist decided to get the water from Jalanni and gave him $10,” said Tomeka Pless. “The suspect snapped $10 from Jalanni and said it was his money because Jalanni was in his territory. Jalanni snatched it back from him and said, ‘I understand where you’re coming from, I split the $10 with you.’ He did try to take it back from him and it tore. They got into a shoving match and the kids broke it up,” Pless said. “Thirty-four minutes later as Jalanni was walking home toward the train station, he guns him down.”

Wow.

Ms. Pless now says she’s pledging to make sure another mother doesn’t suffer her same heartbreak. She wants the water boys off the streets of ATL and has launched an online petition to stop the “dangerous hustle.”

“It’s overwhelming. very overwhelming,” Pless who recently received GoFundMe donations for her son’s heastone said to WSBTV.

The grieving mom still has the ripped $10 bill that was in her son’s wallet the day he was killed and she’s one of several people calling for a crackdown.

ATL Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms previously said that the city won’t tolerate the water boy sales especially after a July incident where a motorist was shot during a dispute with teens selling beverages. 

She released recommendations from a Youth Entrepreneurship Advisory Council in August aimed at steering youth into safe and legal ways to make money.

“We appreciate the entrepreneurial spirit of youth who are selling water to motorists,” Mayor Bottoms said in a statement. “But we have seen an increase in unsafe and violent activity in some locations and cannot allow it to continue.”

Local nonprofit HEY, which stands for Helping Empower Youth, is also pledging to help supervise the sellers and offer them assistance.

Just last month Meek Mill made headlines when he was driving in his $400K car through the southern city and was approached by water boys. The rapper gave the group of several kids $20 and told them to “split it.”

Fans called him “cheap” but the Philly rapper stood by his donation.

Condolences to the friends and family of Jalanni Pless.

What have you heard about the so-called water boys in Atlanta???